Colchester bus crash: Children taken to hospital after coach comes off A12 and smashes into tree
Five children and a man have been taken to hospital after their coach came off the road and smashed into a tree during the morning rush hour.
The bus mounted the roundabout on the A12 in Cymbelline Way in Colchester just before 9am on Monday after a two-vehicle collision.
The coach knocked down a tree, leaving its front windscreen smashed and front wheels off the ground.
Essex Police said the driver had been taken to hospital with serious injuries, and several children had also been taken for treatment, though their injuries are not believed to be life-changing or life-threatening.
The ambulance service said that the driver had suffered chest and foot injuries, and five children had sustained minor injuries.
Colchester County High School has spoken to all parents of the children involved to update them, said police. The school is a selective girls' grammar school in the town.
The air ambulance landed at the scene, and left just before 11am.
Essex Police tweeted at 10.16am to say its officers were also working at the scene.
"The road remains closed and there is a high amount of traffic currently on the A12," they said.
Other buses have since arrived to collect the children evacuated from the coach.
ITV News Anglia reporter Russell Hookey - at the scene
The crash happened at the centre of a roundabout on the busy A12 during the morning rush-hour, as heavy rain hit Colchester.
The young people on board the coach appeared to be in their early teens. After they were evacuated, many of them appeared to be quite understandably in shock.
Some wrapped in foil blankets, they have since been taken away in minibuses - I'm told they are headed to a local school.
Heavy-duty recovery vehicles have arrived at the scene to remove the coach, and shipping container-style pods have been set up in the road to support the emergency services as they work. It appears that the road will be closed for quite some time.
An Essex Police spokesman said: "We were called around 8.50am this morning, following reports of a two-vehicle collision including a coach carrying children on their way to school.
"The driver of the coach has been taken to hospital with serious injuries.
"Some of the children involved have been taken to hospital with none of their injuries being treated as life-threatening or life-changing.
They added: "Emergency services remain at the scene. The road remains closed and there is a high amount of traffic currently on the A12.
"We ask that road users please find alternative routes and avoid the areas."
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