Schoolgirls still critical after falling from bus

Two Co Galway schoolgirls were still in critical condition in hospital last night after they fell from the back of their school bus on Monday afternoon. One of the girls, aged 10, was transferred with head injuries to Beaumont Hospital in Dublin late on Monday. Yesterday she was described as "critical but stable". A nine-year-old remains in a serious condition in University College Hospital, Galway (UCHG). Two friends aged 10 and 12 are being treated in UCHG for lesser injuries.

The four were among 15 pupils from Belmont National School near Milltown, north Galway, travelling on a 52seater bus run by Bus Eireann when the accident occurred about 3.20 p.m. on Monday.

Emergency services were on the scene, near the village of Irishtown, within minutes. Two of the girls were taken to hospital in Galway by ambulance, two by car.

Two separate inquiries have been initiated by Bus Eireann and by the Garda in Milltown. It was still not clear yesterday how the girls fell out on to the road when the rear window of the vehicle collapsed.

The other pupils who were on the bus are related to the four girls, who are from four separate families. Garda Kieran McNicholas of Milltown station told The Irish Times the children would be interviewed next week.

Mr Jim Woolley, area services manager for Bus Eireann, expressed his sympathy and wished the girls a speedy recovery.