A SCHOOL community remains in shock after 22 pupils were injured in a bus accident.

Staff and students at the English Martyrs School, in Hartlepool, have been offered counselling as they come to terms with the tragedy.

The town was left shocked when a school minibus hit a crowd of youngsters making their way home at about 3.30pm on Wednesday.

One of the boys suffered a serious head injury, while the other suffered abdominal injuries, after the pair were believed to have been trapped under the Mercedes minibus.

The condition of two pupils, who remain in The James Cook University Hospital, Middlesbrough, was last night described as poorly, but stable.

Paramedics who helped transfer the most severely injured to hospital said they were amazed that no one had died.

Paul Scott, the first air ambulance paramedic to arrive, described the scene as horrific.

He said: "There were a number of children seriously injured around the bus.

"We had been told that several had been trapped underneath, but they had been quickly freed.

"It was the biggest mass of injuries that I had ever seen, and the young lad with the head injury had suffered potentially life-threatening injuries."

Paramedic Colin Clark said: "Given the size of the bus and the number of children around, it is amazing that nobody was actually killed."

According to witnesses, the bus hit a fence then a tree, after the driver swerved to avoid hitting a youngster who ran across the road.

Scores of children and parents saw the accident, in Catcote Road, as hundreds of children made their way home.

Joseph Hughes, headteacher of English Martyrs School and sixth-form college, said there was a very subdued atmosphere at the school, and said that some people were having difficulty coming to terms with the accident.

He said: "There is a very palpable silence around the school, The children are not their usual talkative selves.

"Everyone is being offered counselling if they require it, and the school's chapel will be open throughout the school day for anyone wanting to say a prayer or light a candle.

"Some of the children who were injured have stayed away from school, but some who were lucky enough to suffer just cuts and bruising have returned.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the two boys who remain seriously injured in hospital."

A 15-year-old boy who helped fellow students get off the bus has spoken of the mayhem that ensued after the impact.

After checking that his sister, 12-year-old Katie, was uninjured, Alex Sanderson opened the emergency door on the bus and started leading everyone to safety.

He said: "There were children with broken bones and broken noses. It was a horrible sight. It was like something out of a movie.

"It is not the sort of thing you expect to happen to you."

Police investigators are interviewing more than 100 witnesses as they try to piece together the circumstances of the accident.

Sergeant Paul Dee said: "We will not be able to say exactly what happened until we have spoken to everyone.

"We cannot rule anything in or out. We will be looking at every possible cause.

"The minibus driver has been briefly interviewed to establish his point of view of the circumstances surrounding the accident, but he could need to be spoken to again."

David Richardson, director of the bus company involved, Richardson's, said: "Everyone is shocked and absolutely devastated following the accident.

"All our thoughts at this time are with the children who have been injured and their families."