Double-decker bus carrying students plunges into English river

LONDON (AP) — A double-decker bus carrying high school students plunged into a river in England Thursday, sending the driver and two passengers to the hospital and leaving more than a dozen others with minor injures, officials said.

The bus carrying students from Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, a school for 16- to 18-year-olds, went off a road in Eastleigh, near the south coast. The cause of the crash was under investigation.

“Reports suggest the bus left the highway and came to rest in a shallow river,” said Richard Tyldsley, general manager of Bluestar Bus. “Our driver and at least two of the passengers have confirmed injuries, and we are awaiting further updates on the status of others on-board.”

All 19 passengers on board were off the bus and about 14 were treated at the scene by paramedics, a South Central Ambulance Service spokesperson said.

Two helicopters, five ambulances and fire crews responded to the crash.

The bus company did not immediately know the circumstances of the crash, but was investigating and cooperating with police probing the incident.