Seven people have been taken to hospital following a horrific crash involving a bus and two cars in County Durham.
Emergency crews attended the scene on the A177 between Sedgefield and Coxhoe at around 7.45am on Friday following reports that a bus and two cars had collided.
Emergency service workers from Durham Constabulary, North East Ambulance Service and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service were all present at the scene and the road was subsequently closed for several hours.
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It has since been confirmed that seven people were taken to James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough, University Hospital of North Durham and North Tees Hospital in Stockton as a result of the crash.
Images from the scene show an Arriva single decker bus and a blue car with significant damage from the collision.
A crash recovery operation was launched at the scene from approximately 2pm with recovery vehicles, alongside collision investigation teams.
At approximately 2.30pm, a recovery vehicle was seen recovering the bus which was involved in the crash. Around ten minutes later, the fire brigade also arrived once more to assist with the recovery.
A spokesperson for Durham Constabulary said: "Police were called to a three-vehicle road traffic collision on the A177 between Sedgefield and Coxhoe at around 7.45am this morning (December 23).
"The incident involved a bus and two cars. Several people were injured and two have been taken to hospital.
"Colleagues from the North East Ambulance Service and County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service are also on scene."
A spokesperson for North East Ambulance Service said: "We were called at 7.47 to a road traffic collision on the A177 in Sedgefield.
"We dispatched multiple resources and transported seven patients to James Cook, University Hospital of North Durham and North Tees Hospital."
A County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson added: "Reports of a road traffic collision on the A177 came into CDDFRS control room at 7.46am this morning.
“Three appliances from Bishop Auckland, Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor along with our Special rescue unit attended the incident.
"They extracted multiple casualties from their vehicles and left the scene at 9.38am. Police and ambulance were also in attendance.”
Bus operators Arriva also issued a statement following the incident.
Their spokesperson said: "We can confirm an incident involving one of our buses took place today, we continue to work with the emergency services.
"Our thoughts are with all those affected at this time."
At the time of writing, the A177 remained closed while recovery operations were ongoing.
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