SYDNEY (Reuters) -An Australian school bus veered off the road and crashed on Wednesday, killing a girl and injuring 11 others, Victorian state emergency services said.
The bus was carrying 28 students from Christian College Geelong when it failed to negotiate a left-hand turn on a rural road near the city of Geelong and rolled over, police said.
The crash scene was “incredibly confronting” for emergency workers, said Paul Lineham, a senior officer with Victoria Police, at a news conference.
“One loss of life is one loss too many and when it comes to children, as a parent myself, it really does hit home and my heart goes out to the parents when they first found out their kids were involved,” he said.
One child was flown by air ambulance to hospital with serious injuries, while a further 10 people including the driver were taken to hospital by road, said David Shearer, from Victoria’s ambulance service.
The 76-year-old driver has since been discharged from hospital and is currently assisting police with their investigation into the crash, Lineham said.
“The exact circumstances are unknown and we will take into consideration everything from the bus to the conditions at the time,” he said.
(Reporting by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Michael Perry)
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