Christmas Eve Coach Crash

The crash, involving a single-decker coach, happened at about 3.40pm on the A140 Cromer Road close to Hart’s Hill Farm. It was returning to Norwich following a Christmas tour of north Norfolk, including Cromer and North Walsham.

One of the elderly people on the bus said she had been asleep when “suddenly the coach flipped over”.

Approximately 49 people were on board, one of them the driver.Police are not yet sure why the bus veered off the road and turned on to its right hand side.The medical team from Anglia One, the air ambulance serving Suffolk and Norfolk, was called to the scene.

Its clinical team of Dr Pam Chrispin and East of England Critical Care Paramedic Andy Downes then worked with road crews to assess the passengers.

Dr Chrispin said: “This was a major incident but, forunately, all of those on board the coach were wearing their seatbelts and this certainly reduced both the number and seriousness of injuries received. We wish all those affected a speedy recovery.

”Five ambulances and three rapid response vehicles were sent to the scene, she added. Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service sent three fire engines, from Sprowston, Earlham and Norwich and a search and rescue team from Wymondham. A spokesman said it used hydraulic equipment to help rescue 41 of the passengers. By 5.15pm they had been been released.

Paramedics said 17 were taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, nine of them suffering from what have been described as serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, such as broken bones, fractures, bruises and bumps. The rest suffered minor injuries.

The remaining passengers were initially taken to a community centre, but have now been transported to a hotel, where it is thought they will stay overnight.