Children seriously hurt in A9 crash involving school bus

Two children are among those seriously injured after a school bus collided with a car on the A9.

The serious crash involved a coach carrying three adults and 36 secondary school pupils and a silver Skoda Octavia driven by a 45-year-old woman with two child passengers, aged nine and seven-years-old.

The collision happened south of Inverness at around 4.45pm on Saturday.

The two child passengers of the car and the 48-year-old co-driver driver of the bus were taken to Raigmore Hospital with serious injuries.

The driver of the car was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary also with serious injuries.

The rest of the people involved in the crash, the 64-year-old driver of the bus and 36 secondary school pupils and their teacher, were not seriously hurt and did not require medical treatment.

The northbound and southbound carriageway were closed for some time for investigations surrounding the crash to be carried out.

Police are now appealing for witnesses to the smash.

Inspector Greg Dinnie of the Road Policing Unit said: “This was a serious crash involving four adults and 38 children who were on the bus and in a Skoda Octavia.

“Our enquiries into the cause of the collision are continuing and I would urge anyone who saw what happened, and has not yet spoken to officers, to come forward.

“I would also ask motorists who were using the A9 at around 4.45pm and may have been recording via dash-cam devices to check their systems and provide any relevant footage to us as soon as possible.

“The road was closed for approximately ten hours to allow our crash investigations to be undertaken. I would like to thank the public for their patience whilst this was being carried out.”

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 quoting incident number 2981 of 19 June, 2021.