20 kids evacuated from school bus inferno

By Fiona Leckerman

A school bus carrying 20 pupils to JCoSS dramatically exploded this morning in Radlett.

A loud bang was heard followed by an explosion at 7.20am.

All the children were immediately evacuated to safety and no one
was harmed.

A plume of fire was seen ascending from the vehicle and closer witnesses saw extreme damage to the bus which included every window down the right side blown out with glass lining the pavement surrounding. Early
indications suggest no foul play and  that the explosion is most likely to be the result of mechanical failure.

One pupil who witnessed the action said bus driver Steve Williams “was amazing, within 30 seconds he got all the children safely off the bus and then there was a sudden bang, smoke and the bus went up in flames.”

The scary scene where the bus, which collects children throughout Hertfordshire to take them to the secondary school in Barnet, saw one devastated pupil lose all their GCSE artwork in the fire.

The children were given the day off school to recover from the shock and trauma.