Eyewitnesses described seeing the bus swerve off the road and into schoolchildren waiting outside English Martyrs' School to avoid hitting a boy who ran into the road.

Pupils were trapped screaming under the wheels as smoke began to pour from the crashed bus.

Year nine pupil Peter Murphy, 14, said one of his frioends had been injured.

Peter was standing just yards from where the bus crashed.

The GCSE pupil, of Hartlepool, who is a student at English Martyrs' School, said: "I was stood by the road when I looked and saw the white mini bus heading towards me.

"There was loads of other groups of kids who had just left school standing around too.

"Then one boy ran out into the road in front of the bus and the driver swerved to try and avoid him.

"It went off the road and crashed into the school fence, hitting a load of kids as it went.

"When it stopped some of them were trapped under the wheels.

"Peopel were screaming and running away.

"There was blood everywhere - it was horrible so I did not want to look. I turned wway.

"One of my friends was taken to hospital. I came down here to see what happened to him. I don't know if he's badly hurt or not."

GCSE student Jodie Waller, 14, was riding a bus travelling in front of the bus which crashed.

She said: "I was sitting forward on the bus and briefly looked round.

"I saw the white bus swerve suddenly and plough into the fence.

"Immediately thick black smoke was billowing from it so within seconds you could not actually see the bus.

"I was the only one on the bus who saw it.

"I was just in total shock and could not speak.

"As our bus kept on driving I was trying to point to alert people to what happened.

"Eventually others saw what happened and were screaming 'the bus has crash, the bus has crashed'.

"Our bus just carried on and took me home to Hartlepool.

"I came back to see what had happened."

Sergeant Paul Dee said: "At about 3.30 this afternoon we were called to a major incident on Catcote Road.

"In excess of ten casualties have been taken to various hospitals throughout the region.

"Two children were airlifted to James Cook Memorial hospital with serious injuries.

"Police from the crash investigation untit are trying to establish what happened.

"But I am led to believe that a vast majority of the casualties were children walking on the pavement.

"Casualties were children from both the Martyrs School and Catcote Road school.

"The driver of the bus has been questioned by police."

One eye-witness, a woman in her 30's who works for a local supermarket, refused to give her name, but said: "It has been total chaos. One minute it was a lovely summer afternoon, the next, the road was full of helicopters, fire engines, ambulances and police cars.

"They have got the whole area taped off so you can't see what is going on but apparently a bus has crashed into some kids when they have been coming out of school.

"The road is still closed hours after it happened and there is still lots of ambulances and medics about."

A spokeswoman for the University Hospital of Hartlepool and the University Hospital of North Tees, said: "At Hartlepool we have had eight casualties.

One adult and seven children. They suffered minor injuries from cuts and bruises and shock.

"We have got 12 casualties at the University Hospital of North Tees, in Stockton. They have neck, leg and other injuries - broken bones and soft tissue injuries."

A spokesman for Richardson's - the bus company who own the coach which crashed into a tree outside the school, said: "I can't tell you anything until I hear from the police. If you want to know anything you will have to talk to the police."