Hero coach driver who rescued 59 kids from bus fire

A hero coach driver from Hyde is the man who rescued dozens of school children from a burning bus.

Paul Bingham was driving towards the burning vehicle on the M6 motorway when he saw children emerging from the bus. He immediately pulled over and rescued all 59 children.

The father of two got all fifty nine children onto his empty coach and then waited three and a half hours before driving them to safety. The incident happened on the M6 northbound at Junction 3a at around 3.40pm on Monday.

Two ambulances, a paramedic area support officer and a senior paramedic officer were sent to the scene.

The coach driver and 13 children were assessed for smoke inhalation.

Four 10 year old girls were taken by ambulance to Birmingham Children’s Hospital for further assessment, though their conditions are not thought to be serious.

Paramedics have also thanked another coach driver who spotted the issue, stopped at the side of the motorway and helped evacuate the children. He then kept them and their teachers safe on his coach while firefighters dealt with the blaze.

He then took them to the Motorcycle Museum where they were meeting up with a replacement coach to take them on their way.