A 16-year-old girl killed in a school bus crash in Keswick on Monday (24/05/10) had lost her 15-year-old brother to a degenerative disease in April 2007.

The Daily Mail reports that Chloe Walker was celebrating her sixteenth birthday when she was killed along with fellow school pupil Kieran Goulding, 15. The driver of the car hit by the school bus, 68-year-old Patrick Short, also died in the crash.

More than 30 other pupils were treated for fractures and spinal injuries following the bus crash – police say it is not known whether the children were wearing seatbelts when the bus reportedly hit a Grey Honda Civic.

The 49-seat coach – which was taking schoolchildren home – then flipped over and several children were ‘catapulted’ onto the busy A66. All the pupils came from Keswick High School and were being taken home to towns on the west coast of Cumbria, including Whitehaven and Egremont.

Some children had to be cut from the wreckage by firemen and a 13-year-old girl was airlifted to Newcastle General Hospital with head and shoulder injuries.

The accident scene was attended by five helicopters– including air ambulances and the RAF, as well as mountain rescue teams. The most seriously injured were airlifted to hospitals in Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Preston. The Red Cross also set up a support centre at nearby Braithwaite Primary School to offer first aid and emotional support.

Chloe Walker came from Frizington – it believed her parents have now lost both their only children. Kieran Goulding came from Whitehaven in Cumbria. A team of psychologists is at Keswick High School offering counselling to traumatised pupils. Headmaster Michael Chapman paid tribute to the pupils who died and said the school would remain open to offer support.

Police cleared the wreckage from the A66 overnight and the road was opened on Tuesday morning.

Speaking at the crash scene on Tuesday, Chief Superintendent Steve Johnson said that it was ‘too early’ to speculate what might have caused the accident. However, accident investigators say that the two vehicles collided head on, dispelling earlier reports that the Honda Civic might have pulled out in front of the bus.

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