More than 40 school children were in the bus when it crashed

A double-decker bus carrying more than 40 school children has crashed in County Down.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) declared it as a "major incident", but has since stood it down.  It said the bus was carrying 43 school children, as well as the driver.

Four children were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) has confirmed.

The incident happened on the Ballyblack Road East, near Carrowdore after 16:00 BST.

Translink said the bus was carrying students from Strangford College to Bangor.

In a statement, the PSNI said that NIAS treated and discharged 33 people at the scene.  Several patients also self-presented at the Ulster Hospital.

Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) deployed five fire appliances to the scene.  Firefighters used specialist cutting equipment to rescue two casualties from the bus.

Pictures on social media showed the vehicle on its side in a field having left the road.

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