A former professional jockey who helped rescue adults and children involved in a horrific school bus crash said he ‘couldn’t sleep’ because of the scenes he witnessed.
Alan Jones, 64, ferried passengers to safety by driving them to a safe hub on his quad bike following the crash in Somerset on Thursday.
A 10-year-old boy died and six children and three adults remain in hospital after the vehicle left the A396 at Cutcombe Hill near Minehead and slid down a 20ft slope.
The bus had been carrying 60 to 70 pupils and staff from Minehead Middle School, who were returning from a trip to Exmoor Zoo days before the end of term.
Mr Jones, who now works as a trainer and lives at East Harwood Farm, said he took a total of eight adults and children to the Rest and Be Thankful Inn in Wheddon Cross after their school bus overturned.
As he had a quad bike, he felt he would be able to get to the road, which had been closed, via the fields and took a rope with him.
‘It’s the most remote place,’ he said.
‘The children coming out of that accident wouldn’t have known where they were.
A 10-year-old boy died and six children and three adults remain in hospital after the vehicle left the A396 at Cutcombe Hill near Minehead and slid down a 20ft slope on ThursdayÂ
The crash happened between Wheddon Cross and Timberscombe, on Thursday afternoon
Alan Jones, 64, ferried passengers to safety by driving them to a safe hub on his quad bike following the crash in Somerset on Thursday
‘I think it would have been wrong not to try and help. I was there in under 10 minutes.
‘When I got there, the road was closed and the police were everywhere. Everybody was just looking at the bus.
‘I didn’t know there were any fatalities at the time, but I knew there were children still in the bus, and all of the police officers were just basically around the bus and there wasn’t anybody else about, really; I was the only local person there.’
He said he first helped two teachers on the side of the road.
As he drove the two women slowly round the bends, he saw a group of children and one adult who had been instructed to head to the pub which had been set up as a safe point.
He said: ‘They were just sort of stranded there. They didn’t know what was going on, really.
‘They wouldn’t have known where they were and there were high trees behind and in front of them because the road runs through the cliff a bit.
‘You could see they were injured and crying and upset.
Mr Jones, who helped rescue children and staff from the crashed vehicle, said he ‘couldn’t sleep’ because of the scene he witnessed
‘They’re just so innocent and it wasn’t their fault. It was a sorry sight’ said Mr Jones of the youngsters caught up in the incident
People comforted each other as they looked at the floral tributes at the entrance to the Minehead Middle School in Somerset
People looked at the floral tributes at the entrance to the Minehead Middle School
Jayden, who was a passenger on the bus and was treated for a suspected broken collarbone, with his mother outside Minehead Middle School
Mother Kim placing her floral tributes with her son Jayden outside the school
Emily (right) was among dozens of pupils, parents and local residents who laid flowers outside the front gates of the school – which remained closed on Friday
One child died and 21 people were injured when the second coach crashed off a winding stretch of road, flipped onto its roof and slid down a steep bank. Pictured: People lay floral tributes at the scene
A police car was seen outside Minehead Middle School in Somerset on Thursday evening
‘It was too far, these were very young middle school children. They’d just been upside down in a bus, over a cliff, all the windows had broken in the bus, and they’d scrambled out and been helped out by emergency services.
‘I presume some of them were told to make their way up, but they just couldn’t walk up.’
When he reached the top, ambulances picked up the two women so he returned to pick up another teacher and child.
He said: ‘They were in shock. They didn’t really say a lot.
‘One teacher said: ‘I’m never going back on a bus or coach ever again’.’
Mr Jones said he could not sleep when he returned home to bed.
‘They’re just so innocent and it wasn’t their fault. It was a sorry sight,’ he added.
‘When you hear it’s children from a middle school, I should think everybody dropped everything like I did, because it’s just something about children – they’re pretty helpless, really.
Emergency services, including five helicopters, rushed to the scene on the A396 in Somerset to free passengers who had become trapped inside the bus
The A396 Cutcombe Hill is a winding rural road in the heart of Exmoor National Park
Minehead Middle School caters for pupils aged between nine and 14
The 70-seater vehicle was taking pupils back to Minehead Middle School when the smash happened at around 3pm (picture from the scene)Â
Police said the majority of the passengers were taken to a rest centre in Wheddon Cross and advised parents to head to the school
Fire crews were also involved in helping to rescue the teachers and pupils on board the vehicle
‘They couldn’t even walk to the pub because they just got tired, which is quite sad.’
The crash happened between Wheddon Cross and Timberscombe, at about 3.15pm on Thursday.
The vehicle left the road, overturned and came to rest about 20ft from the road, down a steep slope.
Recovery of the vehicle and the investigation are complex, and the PA news agency understands the road will remain closed until the beginning of next week.
Fundraisers have also been set up for affected families, amounting to tens of thousands of pounds in total so far.
Tributes have been left at the school, which remained closed on Friday.
