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UK children on board NI-based bus that crashed in Belgium | |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least one person has been killed after a bus belonging to a Northern Ireland company carrying 34 children from the UK crashed in Belgium. | |
The company, Richmond Coaches, is from Lisburn, County Antrim. The two drivers are from Northern Ireland. | |
The bus reportedly overturned on the A18 (E40) at Middelkerke, West Flanders at 09:45 local time (08:45 BST). | |
Eyewitnesses said the bus crashed into a motorway bridge pillar. | |
West Flanders traffic police confirmed that one person is dead and one is injured. | |
Children who were on the coach have been taken to a nearby swimming pool, the BBC has been told. | |
The road is closed and emergency services are at the scene. | |
A spokesman from Richmond Coaches of Ballinderry Road, Lisburn, confirmed that one of its vehicles had been involved in the crash. | |
He said what had happened was "a tragedy" and the company was co-operating with the authorities. | |
He said the company's thoughts were with everyone involved and they were cooperating fully with the authorities. | |
Photographs on Twitter show the bus on its side and several people still inside. | |
Janna Rommel-Opstaele, the mayor of the nearby coastal town of Middelkerke, told press agency Reuters that one person had been killed and another seriously injured. | |
"Some of the children with light injuries have been taken to hospital and local medical centres," she said. | |
A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said they were aware of the crash and were working with the Belgian authorities to establish details. | |
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