20 children on school bus involved in ditch crash near Pukekohe, south of Auckland

• A bus carrying about 20 children slid off the road and came to rest in a ditch on Jericho Rd.
• St John says one person was injured and treated at the scene.
• The driver helped the children out of the emergency exit, and the parents took them to school.

A school bus with 20 children on board has crashed into a ditch south of Auckland this morning.

A parent says the bus slid off the road while it attempted to move out of the way of a truck on a narrow road.

Police say none of those in the bus at the time were injured but the driver raced to get the children out through the emergency exit.

A police spokesman said the bus “came to rest in a ditch” on Jericho Rd, Pukekohe East, at 8.43am.

“The bus was carrying approximately 20 children at the time.”

A concerned parent said the bus slid off the road when they were forced to reverse due to a truck coming in the opposite direction on the narrow road.

“The road is not wide enough for two vehicles in a lot of sections, let alone a bus and an oncoming truck approaching from the opposite direction.

“The bus driver had to reverse to a wider section of road for the truck to fit past but slid off the road as the road has broken away over the years and the council hasn’t fixed it.”

The parent said their bus driver “was awesome” and he did not want people to believe he had “crashed” this morning.

A St John spokesman said one person was “moderately injured” and treated at the scene.

The spokesman said the children were helped out of the emergency exit by the driver and were taken to school by their parents.

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