The 65-year-old bus driver was suspected of dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm after a preliminary investigation suggested his vehicle accidentally crossed the white line and moved into the opposite lane.

“We believe that the school bus was the vehicle that left its lane towards Discovery Bay and crossed into the opposite direction, causing this accident,” Superintendent Jackey Tsue Chun-tung of the New Territories South investigation and support division said.

Tsue said the school bus was carrying 19 pupils and a bus monitor while travelling from Tuen Mun to Discovery Bay and the double-decker vehicle was heading to Sunny Bay.

“We found the male driver of the school bus trapped in the vehicle when we arrived and rescued him promptly,” Ng Chin-to, the station commander for the Penny’s Bay Fire Station, said. “A total of 34 injured passengers were sent to hospital.”

He added another 88 passengers were escorted away from the crash site.

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Police confirmed two schoolchildren and the school bus driver suffered serious injuries and were taken to Princess Margaret Hospital in Kwai Chung.

The remaining 18 school bus passengers had minor injuries and were sent to Northern Lantau Hospital.

The injuries suffered by the passengers on the double-decker bus were said to be minor.

The school bus was carrying pupils at Discovery College in Discovery Bay, which offers primary and secondary education.

After it collided with the double-decker vehicle, the school bus veered off the single lane road and crashed into trees, causing front end damage. The double-decker bus’s windscreen was shattered in the collision.

Children in school uniforms were seen sitting on the ground and receiving care by paramedics or other adults.

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Discovery College, an English Schools Foundation (ESF) facility, said staff from the school and the foundation had gone to the scene to help.

“Contact is being made with the parents of the students who were travelling on the bus, and ESF staff are liaising directly with the bus operator,” the school added.

The school’s website says Kwoon Chung Motors is the contractor that provides bus services for its pupils.

The Fire Services Department said it had deployed nine fire engines and 21 ambulances to the incident.

The Transport Department said the Cheung Tung Road was closed for several hours, reopening at 12.30pm.

Police said their investigation would look at road and vehicle conditions, as well as the health of both drivers.

“Police strongly condemn the irresponsible driving behaviour of the driver involved in the case. It not only poses a danger to the safety of other road users and disregard personal safety, but it is also the actual cause of serious traffic accidents,” the force said, adding that police would strictly enforce the law.

In March, 18 pupils with special educational needs were sent to hospitals for check-ups after a private car struck a school bus on a highway in the New Territories.

The back of the bus was struck by the car as it slowed down while heading in the direction of Tuen Mun on the Kong Sham Western Highway near Fu Tai Estate in Tuen Mun.

According to police, none of the 19 pupils on the bus showed obvious signs of bruises, while a 54-year-old custodian complained of neck pain.

In 2021, 22 children were among 24 people injured after a school bus crashed into two other vehicles before stopping by the side of a river.

The bus, carrying 55 primary school pupils and a nanny, veered out of control at high speed and crashed on Tai Chung Kiu Road near Belair Gardens in Sha Tin.

Additional reporting by Clifford Lo

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