Lisa Campo was expecting to find a “fender bender” after a call came into Exford primary school to inform it of a crash.
The bell marking the end of classes had sounded not even 30 minutes earlier when the school principal heard that a bus carrying 46 children had crashed about 900m away on Tuesday.
Instead, Campo and teachers arrived to a scene – on the western outskirts of Melbourne – that has been described by seasoned police officers as “horrific”.
“I didn’t know what I was going to see, I honestly thought I would just be there accompanying distressed kids and there had been a minor collision,” Campo said on Wednesday. “I didn’t ever expect to see that and I hope I never see that again.”
The school bus was flipped on its side, its windows smashed on impact. Children as young as five, who had managed to make their way out of the bus, were on the side of the road. Several were crying, others screaming.
Then there were the other children trapped inside the wreckage. Diesel had begun leaking from the bus.
The teachers and about a dozen other witnesses – mostly tradies on the way home from work – sprung to action immediately.
They began pulling the children out of the bus through a hatch door in the roof, with the help of the bus driver, who had also been injured.
Others handed the children blankets and jumpers and comforted them.
Campo said she and the school’s assistant principal had broken protocol and “wrapped [their] arms” around the children.
“I know that we’re not supposed to hug kids but that is what they needed,” she said.
Within 15 minutes, emergency services arrived and took over the response.
Supt Michael Cruse described the action of the teachers and witnesses first on the scene as heroic.
“It was a horrific scene,” he told reporters on Wednesday. “It was chaotic and it would have been really confronting for those passersby, so I think a special mention to those people.
“Undoubtably, their actions have prevented potentially further injuries and also reduced the time it took to get the children out of the bus and into hospital. Some of them are heroes.”
Eighteen children were taken to hospital. Seven remain, some of whom have injuries that were described by Cruse as “life-changing”.
Several will undergo further surgeries in the coming days and weeks.
Campo said the school had already begun planning how to support children on their return classroom. Those who were able to return on Wednesday were allowed to wear their pyjamas.
“We joked that we would have a school-wide nap at 10 o’clock,” she said. “Ring a bell and everyone had to have a little rest. We’re just taking it easy today and supporting our students.”
The 49-year-old driver of the truck involved in the crash – who suffered minor injuries – has been charged with four counts of dangerous driving. He has been released on bail.
The Melbourne magistrates court heard two children have required amputations of their hands and arms, while 30 children were described by police as “walking wounded”.
