Five hurt as truck and bus collide

Left to right: The car, the truck and the bus involved in the crash. Photos / Christine Cornege

Three teenagers were among five people taken to hospital after a near-tragic collision between a truck and bus full of high school students.

Police said the Linfox semi-trailer was heading south along Gordonton Rd, north of Hamilton, about 4pm yesterday when an oncoming schoolbus turned right into Whitikahu Rd.

The truck's driver, 49-year-old Colin Greaves, last night told the Herald he slammed on the brakes to try to avoid the bus.

"I thought it was crazy and all I could do was try and stop," he said.

"I just slammed on the brakes. I could see it was full of kids."

But the truck struck the rear of the school bus and clipped a 2007 Volkswagen convertible before veering off the road into a paddock.

The 22-tonne truck was carrying chilled and frozen goods destined for Hamilton supermarkets.

It is understood the driver and passenger of the VW were both taken to Waikato Hospital, the former with moderate injuries.

Three students - from the bus that picks up teenagers from various Hamilton schools and is registered to Greenline Motors - were last night at the hospital's emergency department.

All suffered minor injuries.

Police blocked the road for a couple of hours while the scene was examined and cleared, and diversions were put in place.

Sergeant Neil Mansill, of the Morrinsville road-policing group, told the Herald 35 students were on board.

The crash follows a school mini-bus accident last week that prompted Waikato Police to urge motorists to drive to the road conditions.

In that accident, five people were taken to hospital after a late-model Ford Transit van lost control on Maungatautari Rd, south of Cambridge, and plunged 30m down a steep bank.

The mini-bus ploughed through a fence and eventually came to a halt against a pine tree.

Police are warning that extra patrols will be on the roads for the long Queen's Birthday Weekend ahead.