Six children were seriously injured and some were trapped in wreckage on Tuesday when a truck hit a school bus on the outskirts of Melbourne in southeastern Australia, officials said.
The bus, which was carrying as many as 45 children, tipped over after being hit in the rear by the truck at an intersection in Eynesbury, police said.
An adult and 21 children were taken to a hospital, including six with serious traumatic injuries, an ambulance statement said. The conditions of the 16 others were described as stable.
About six children were temporarily trapped in the wrecked bus, the Country Fire Authority said. Emergency crews entered the bus through a skylight in its roof. The windshield was the main emergency exit.
Paramedics assessed dazed victims who didn't appear to need hospitalisation in the grassland surrounding the crash scene.
The bus driver sustained minor injuries. Police crash investigators were questioning the driver of the truck, which was damaged in its front. The truck driver was not injured.
The children were returning to nearby Exford Primary School after competing in an athletics event for children aged 8 to 11 years.
