Eight children taken to hospital after being hit by car in Suffolk, England

September 26, 2009

Eight children were taken to hospital on Friday after being struck by a car in Suffolk, England.

20 schoolchildren were out on an educational trip through the village of Worlingham in Suffolk, England at roughly 14:00 BST with a teacher and an assistant to supervise. They were being introduced to the local area when a driver lost control of a Nissan Note and ploughed into the group of children, who were eight and nine years old. The accident occurred near a church where a funeral was taking place. Eight pupils had to be taken to hospital. Two of the victims were transported from the crash scene by air-ambulance. Another person suffered from two broken legs. The teacher was also injured. One girl is thought to have a broken pelvis.

A spokeswoman for the paramedics said that three of the badly hurt children "went under the wheels of the car". A 21-year-old man was also hurt. He was on his way to the funeral, which was for a person who had died in a road traffic accident. Mike Croft, who is the principal of Worlingham Middle School, said: "You could not think of anything worse than finding children like that. It's not a day I want to repeat. When I got there, there was mayhem. It looked awful. Parents were informed as quickly as possible. Counsellors were called to the scene and subsequently attended the school."

Andreas Djiakouris, supervisor of the paramedics, stated: "Every single one of our crews who were at the scene had their hands full from the minute they got there to the minute they left." Three children are said to have been critically injured.

It is thought that the Nissan driver hit the group of pedestrians while trying to avoid other parked cars. A 40-year-old woman has been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving.