Minehead school bus crash: pupil who died was ten-year-old boy
Twenty-one passengers were taken to hospital, some with serious injuries, when the 70-seater vehicle swerved off a country road between the villages of Wheddon Cross and Timberscombe on Exmoor on Thursday at about 3pm.
The bus had been carrying pupils, aged nine and ten, back to Minehead Middle School after an end-of-term trip to Exmoor Zoo. On Friday, police confirmed that the child who died in the crash was a boy aged ten. He was named locally as Oliver. Formal identification has not yet been completed
A steady stream of people, including pupils and classmates of the boy, gathered outside the school gates. One card described him as 'so kind to everyone'. It read: 'Dear Oliver, I am not really sure what to write, but we will all miss you. You were so kind to everyone and you are a very good friend and could always make me laugh with with your jokes.'
Another message said: 'RIP Oliver, we sure are going to miss your infectious smile. Shine bright angel. Thinking of your family.'
The coach crashed at about 3.15pm on Thursday, on a steep and winding section of the A396, which is used daily by school buses.
Glass had shattered at the front of the coach. Having gone over the edge of the steep road, it had rolled onto its roof as it slid 20ft down a ravine. An off-duty firefighter travelling behind it immediately began trying to free passengers.
A person who spoke to the firefighter said: 'He didn't think the guy was driving too fast. He said he just seemed to go off the road.'
The Times understands the driver and about ten children were trapped in the wreckage and had to be cut out. Two children were taken to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children by air ambulance, while four children and three adults remain in hospital in Somerset.
Emily Manning, ten, had a lucky escape when she was stopped from boarding the coach involved in the fatal crash because it was already full. After laying flowers with her father, Nick Manning, on Friday, she said: 'I wanted to be on the second coach because that's where my friends were but there were too many people so I got off. I felt upset because my friends were on that bus.'
Manning, 48, a window cleaner, said his heart dropped when he received a phone call at work saying there had been an accident. 'It's every parent's nightmare, it's absolutely awful. I had constant messages and phone calls checking Emily was OK. People were panicking,' he said.
One mother said her daughter was 'bruised battered and very traumatised' but had 'no broken bones', adding: 'She was so lucky.'
SWNS
Darcey Griffiths, ten, said that one moment she and her friends were talking about their visit and the next she realised she was dangling upside down. 'I remember the coach driving along. It didn't feel like anything was about to happen, but then it just rolled over,' she told The Daily Telegraph.
'I was upside down in my seat, and it was only my seatbelt keeping me in place. I didn't know what to do, but I saw a friend of mine undo her seatbelt and fall down, so I did the same.' She said she and her friends made their way along the coach's upturned ceiling until they found the door and crawled out.
The South Western Ambulance Service sent 20 double-crewed ambulances, three air ambulances, a command team and two hazardous area response teams. The fire service sent eight fire engines and 60 firefighters. A police helicopter was also dispatched.
Villagers in Wheddon Cross, who were nearest the crash site, opened their pub and village as a rescue hub.
Isobel Wood, 26, a paralegal, was picking up a parcel in the Post Office when she saw a police cordon closing the road to Minehead and heard air ambulances overhead. 'They said a bus had gone over, and knowing the road we hoped it hadn't gone into the ravine,' she said.
She raced home and told Jill Thompson, 68, her neighbour and the chairwoman of Moorland Hall. Thompson, an events manager, said the first child survivor to be reunited with his parents was grazed and terrified when he climbed out of a police car and ran into his mother's arms.
'It was devastating but everybody in the village was running down to see what they could do,' she said. We have all had children on the buses growing up, so it's hit all of us. It could have happened to our children and it's absolutely horrific. We have all been so upset.'
The village hall
WILL HUMPHRIES FOR THE TIMES
Eric Norman, the landlord of the Rest and Be Thankful Inn, opened his doors to the emergency services. The Post Office provided tea and coffee for those in the village hall, and the pub made sure everyone was fed and watered.
Wood said: 'It was the walking wounded going into the pub and the poor children were terrified. Some had blood on their clothes that very much wasn't their own, others had bandaged heads and blood coming down their faces and necks.'
Peter Prior-Sankey, the director of Ridlers Coaches, said the driver was 'in a stable condition in hospital, but with a number of injuries'.
The driver and school staff were described by Chief Superintendent Mark Edgington, of Avon and Somerset police, as 'deeply distressed' by the 'truly tragic' incident.
A teacher from the school posted a message online to her 'amazing students', saying she 'couldn't be prouder of all of you today [and] how incredibly brave you have been'.
MATTHEW HORWOOD/GETTY IMAGES
'You have looked after each in what was a life-changing event,' she wrote. 'We will get through this together. I am so grateful to my wonderful colleagues during this time who were also fighting to help as many people as we could. My deepest condolences to all parents, carers, family and friends involved.
'Finally, thank you to the emergency services who have saved many lives today and to the brilliant public who went out of their way to look after myself and most importantly the wonderful students of Minehead Middle School.''
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The Sun
2 minutes ago
- The Sun
I tested best fish and chips in capital of British national dish – winner was succulent and flaky and only cost £10.50
THERE are few things we Brits love more than fish and chips. And Scarborough, home to 93 chippies, knows that more than anywhere else. The seaside resort in North Yorks has more fish and chip shops per head than any other town or city in the country — 85.4 per 100,000 to be precise. 15 So as a self-confessed fan of our national dish, I knew I had to pay it a visit. My mission? To find the best fish and chips in the fish and chip capital of Britain. My method? By trying as many establishments as I could in the town centre in one day. And along the way, I found out just how the chippy makes the meal like nowhere else — and why it's more important than ever to make a point of supporting your local. As it turns out, the dish had made quite the journey to end up in the UK. Sephardic Jews in 15th Century Portugal enjoyed traditional fried fish on the Sabbath. Cooking on the day itself was forbidden, so they would wrap the fish in batter to preserve it. But when they were banished in 1497, many fled to England, bringing the dish with them — and the tradition of eating it on a Friday soon caught on. By the Victorian era, fried fish was firmly established as a working-class staple, being cheap, nutritious and easy to ship across the country thanks to the arrival of the railways. 'Fried fish warehouses' even featured in the Charles Dickens classic Oliver Twist. Britain's £65 Fish & Chips So Big NO ONE Can Finish It Alone But the title of Britain's first fish and chip shop is hotly debated. A southerner may tell you the first one was opened in Bow, East London, by a Jewish immigrant called Joseph Malin in about 1860, while a northerner might claim it was John Lees, who opened a market stall in Mossley, Lancs, around 1863. Wherever that marriage of fried fish and fried chips was first made, it wasn't long before there was a shop on just about every corner. The dish even escaped rationing during World War Two. 'Prices are rocketing' 'It just worked so well, and it's great nutrition,' says Andrew Crook, President of the National Federation of Fish Friers. The numbers don't lie either. According to UK Fisheries, UK fans scoff around 382million meals from chippies every year and spend £1.2billion on fish and chips annually. Even Queen Elizabeth was a devotee — although she didn't eat fish off a newspaper, instead preferring haddock cut into small squares and covered in breadcrumbs. So how did we come to love fish and chips so much? 'It's a comfort thing,' reckons Andrew. 'People go on holiday, and the first meal they have when they get back is fish and chips. 'Everyone has their favourite chippy — you see so many arguments on social media about which one's better than the other. But as long as it sells and people love it, you're doing alright.' But the good old fish and chip shop is under threat. Although there are still more than 10,500 shops left in the country, they now find themselves under pressure just like other small businesses. 15 'Fish prices are rocketing, while staff wages and national insurance contributions have increased,' says Raymond Fusco, a third-generation fish fryer and the owner of Winking Willy's, a fish and chip shop right on the harbourside in Scarborough. He adds: 'Gas price increases were massive too, because of the Ukraine war. All that has to be taken into account.' Reduced cod fishing quotas in recent years have also driven costs upwards. But despite these challenges, Raymond still feels confident about the future. He says: 'The good shops will continue to thrive. You can't imagine a Britain without fish and chips.' Andrew, meanwhile, wants the Government to recognise the problems smaller shops face. He says: 'We've got a great product and people rightly love fish and chips. 'We just need the Government to start engaging with this more closely, because if they don't I fear for many small businesses.' But to really understand fish and chips, I would have to get behind the counter and find out how it is made. Raymond explains the vital parts of the process. The oil will soak in if the batter is too thin — and chips must always be at least double fried. When it comes to the fish, keeping the oil clean is what matters most, and it must be regularly sieved to remove scraps and impurities. 15 'Crispy on outside' It's also why what you get down the chippy is so different to what you get in pubs. Raymond reveals: 'We always say, the busier we are, the better the fish, because you're constantly turning over the oil. 'Pubs don't generally do the same amount of volume.' I was now ready to go back to the customer side of the counter and see what Scarborough had on offer — but what should I be looking for in good fish and chips? Andrew, who also judges the National Fish and Chip awards, says: 'You want to be looking at the batter first. 'I'd always break a fish in half and make sure it's not too gooey underneath. You want a nice thin batter that's crisp, and you want a little bit of lift on it, usually a bit spiky.' Haddock rather than cod is the preferred offering in Scarborough, but a good fish will always be ice white and flakey. And for the chips? Andrew says: 'Crispy on the outside and soft in the middle.' But he added that as it was new potato season, they would likely be on the softer side. For these reviews, I have taken into account flavour and value for money to give each a mark out of ten. Here, I reveal what happened when I put Scarborough — and my arteries — to the test. Winking Willies: £10.50 15 THE batter at this family-run shop certainly delivered a great crunch. The chips also had a good amount of softness on the inside without sacrificing the bite on the outside – no doubt thanks to the fact it is cooked in beef tallow. But it was the fish itself that really stood out, with a succulent flavour and great degree of flakiness. 9/10 Harbourside: £11.20 Like Willy's, this takeaway on the far end of the seafront also keeps things traditional by frying everything in beef dripping. Taste wise, it's worth it, and the chips had a great colour. I was also impressed by the size of the fish – though at £11.20 I wouldn't expect anything less. The fish was slightly greasy, but the batter was crisp. 7/10 The Anchor: £11.30 WITH it featuring on TV's The One Show, I went into The Anchor with high expectations – and it almost met them. The portion size was good, and there was clean separation when I broke away the fish, indicating good batter. But I found the chips to be somewhat undercooked with too much fluff – though having beers on draught almost made up for it. SCORE: 6/10 Bamford's: £10.60 THIS small shop on the front had one of the best coloured chips on offer. The fish also delivered on taste. In its favour, for me, was the fact that the skin was still left on. Though I can appreciate not everyone is a fan of this, I think it adds a nice variety to the flavour, especially when you're tucking into it by the sea. SCORE: 7/10 Tunny Club: £8.95 I WAS impressed by this award-winning takeaway's unique twist on the classic dish – a fish and chip wrap, featuring battered haddock, chips, and tartar sauce all bundled together. It came in at a very reasonable price, and I was pleasantly surprised by the innovation, which made a pleasant change from your usual takeaway tray. 8/10 Fish Pan: £9.85 15 Established in 1960, this old-school seafront take- away unfortunately left me disappointed. I enjoyed the chips, and the batter looked and tasted good, too. However, the fish itself was far too greasy for me to enjoy, and was too tough as well, lacking the flakiness I had been told by the experts to be on the lookout for. SCORE: 5/10 Papa's: £10.18 15 SITTING in a prime position on the seafront, a giant sign announces this as Britain's Best Fish and Chips. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the day I visited. Although the chips were decent, the fish was oily and not as good as many of the others nearby. But at £10.18 for a regular meal, it was one of the better value shops along the front. SCORE: 5/10 Carol's Plaice: £9 15 A FEW streets away from the beach in a more residential area, this small family-owned shop is not chasing the tourist crowd – but it offered plenty of bang for my buck. The chips were generously portioned and the batter was a standout. It's no wonder that Gary from Coronation Street – actor Mikey North – once paid a visit. 8/10 Rennards: £9.15 15 THE offering from this town centre chippy was a decent size for the price, and the fish itself was tasty. The batter wasn't too bad either, though it could have done with crisping up a little bit more. Unfortunately, the chips were the let-down here, as they were pale, undercooked and overall of poor quality. 5/10 Wackers: £10 15 THE understated plain brick frontage of this takeaway just off the main shopping street didn't fill me with buckets of hope. But at a tenner a portion, I couldn't complain. The batter had a good golden colour to it, and the chips tasted great with a lovely crispness on the outside. Top whack! SCORE: 8/10 North Bay Fisheries: £12.50 15 THE large queue snaking out of the door proved why this establishment, situated on the opposite side of town, is one of the highest-rated chippies in Scarborough. The batter and chips all scored top marks, and the fish was tasty too with a more meaty texture. By far the most expensive takeaway I visited but the portion size was very generous. 9/10 Catch 55: £10 JUST one road back from the seafront, this smart establishment offered a regular meal for a reasonable tenner. The batter was some of the best I'd had, and the fish was also tasty. But although the chips were great, they were let down by the fact that there were not as many in my box as other shops had served me.
Times
35 minutes ago
- Times
Class snobbery is at heart of NHS gender war
Outside the tribunal in Dundee, Jane Russell KC, stopped to pet a border collie. 'Would that be a female dog or a male dog?' asked a mischievous Scot. Russell laughed nervously. 'Ha-HAH! Well, I don't know. How would you know?' she mumbled, then darted into the building. Does Russell, a keen horsewoman who celebrated taking silk by galloping through London on a steed called Jupiter, really believe biological sex is 'complicated', that babies — and, presumably, dogs and horses — are randomly 'assigned' male or female at birth by a midwife/vet? Or is this just fashionable sophistry she deploys to defend her clients NHS Fife and the trans-identified male doctor Beth Upton? Certainly for Sandie Peggie this postmodern conceit is no joke. A nurse for 30 years, she was suspended, put through internal disciplinary hearings and at this tribunal has endured scrutiny of every intimate matter, from her menstrual cycle to whether she loves her lesbian daughter, just for upholding a basic truth: sex is real. Of all such cases — and I've followed many — none encapsulates the shibboleths, snobberies and magical thinking of our age so well. Day after day we heard doctors and managers of Victoria Hospital, Kirkcaldy, relate how they unashamedly closed ranks against a working-class nurse, whose rights, feelings or even basic humanity fell beyond their #BeKind purview. It started on Christmas Eve 2023, when Peggie rushed to the female changing rooms, fearing that a sudden menstrual flood — a common occurrence around menopause — had soaked her scrubs. When Dr Upton entered, Peggie says she told him he was making her feel uncomfortable and asked him to leave. But this incident, which sparked almost two years of litigation, isn't the most shocking. Twice before, Peggie had come in to change, seen Upton, turned around and waited outside until he left. She'd said nothing, just declined to undress in front of him. But Upton reported her anyway and — amazingly — his line manager Dr Kate Searle took his side: 'Beth felt uncomfortable with someone behaving differently like that.' Even silent dissent wouldn't do. The only acceptable course of action was for Peggie to tamp down her embarrassment and strip — only then could a six-foot-tall man's belief that he is a woman remain intact. Did Searle ask Peggie how she felt? 'I didn't make that approach.' Instead, after Christmas, Searle sat down with Upton and filled in an official complaint in which (she has admitted on oath) she incorrectly asserted that Peggie had compared him to the trans rapist Isla Bryson. Then, against all disciplinary protocol, Searle emailed other doctors to rally support for Upton, telling them to avoid 'foot in mouth' misspeaks which might stop Peggie, who was instantly suspended, being punished. Each day we learnt new ways in which senior hospital staff had persecuted a nurse with a flawless record. Jamie Doyle, head of nursing, wanted Peggie reported to the police. Upton claimed to have noted earlier incidents in which Peggie's hostility towards him had endangered patients. But no one corroborated these grave claims and an IT expert who analysed Upton's phone testified that these were not contemporaneous notes but added after the Christmas Eve row. (Peggie was cleared of these and other allegations in a separate hospital disciplinary inquiry.) Why did all of these senior people fall over themselves to take Upton's side, even at the expense of truth? Because trans identity tops an all-important oppression hierarchy and the purest form of virtue is being a 'trans ally'. To prove this, both the head of diversity, Isla Bumba, and Searle, an A&E consultant, claimed neither knew Upton's sex, or even their own. 'I've never had my chromosomes tested,' said Bumba. Does Searle do this before prescribing the correct drug dosage for a female patient? Of course not. No one really believes such absurdity: they mouth it out of religious obeisance. At the base of that purity pyramid are women like Sandie Peggie: boring, menopausal, the ancillary people who confront biological sex in every backside they wipe. Working-class Peggie doesn't hold the received opinions: Russell scoured a seven-year-long private Facebook group of nurses Peggie had holidayed with to find that she'd reposted horrible jokes about the Pakistani floods, is against sharia and illegal migration, and was initially upset that her daughter was gay. The notion was: this 'bigot' doesn't merit rights. But just as a black person who makes antisemitic jokes or a trans woman who posts 'Die in a fire, TERF' still deserve protection against discrimination or violence, Peggie, whatever her views, has the right to undress at work without being watched by a man. Now the Peggie tribunal evidence has concluded, the judgment will come later this year and she is predicted to receive a substantial payout. But the case of the Darlington nurses — who also objected to a man changing with them — is scheduled for a full tribunal in October; a similar case involving a Muslim nurse is pending, while Jennifer Melle, a black nurse who was racially abused by a trans-identifying male paedophile in police custody because she referred to him as 'Mister', is still suspended by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals Trust. Four months after the Supreme Court clarified the meaning of sex, it is an outrage that public money is still being squandered while women fight for basic rights. Why does the Health and Safety Executive not remind employers of 1992 workplace laws which mandate single-sex changing? Why are NHS England and the NHS Confederation allowed by the health secretary, Wes Streeting, to drag their feet? The ludicrous joke that sex is an unfathomable mystery has worn very thin.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Disney World guests rushed to hospital after boat crash
A horrific ferry boat crash at Disney World has reportedly resulted in multiple guests having to be rushed to the hospital. According to a witness, the boat was bringing families from the Magic Kingdom to the Transportation and Ticket Center on Wednesday night during a massive storm, when it suddenly 'hit something.' The Disney guest, named Larry, described the horrific scene in detail to the Daily Mail, claiming that people were 'thrown forward' as 'metal trash cans' came barreling forward onto 'little kids,' resulting in one boy getting pinned under a trash can. He recounted terrified children screaming and 'people bleeding' as they waited for EMT services to arrive. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, Larry explained, 'I was leaving Magic Kingdom on Wednesday, July 30, right when they closed at 11pm.' He said that as they were waiting for the ferry it started raining 'heavily,' adding, 'It was coming down hard so we were surprised the ferry was running in the dark and pouring rain.' As they were approaching the Transportation and Ticket Center he said the boat 'hit something all of a sudden.' 'When we hit whatever we hit, everyone was thrown forward and the metal trash cans and recycling bins were thrown forward onto strollers and little kids,' he explained. 'There were little kids screaming and [I] noticed that a boy was pinned under the trash cans so [everyone] quickly lifted them up.' Footage shared exclusively with the Daily Mail by Larry of the aftermath shows hoards of terrified families huddling on the boat moments after the crash. Some are seen on the ground with screaming and crying heard in the background. He said that after the boat pulled into the dock and guests rushed off to safety 'not a word was said from the captains or Disney cast members.' 'There were furious screaming parents and all these employees were doing was saying, "You'll have to take it up with guest services when they open," or, "Call guest services,"' Larry told the Daily Mail. 'Lots of kids were shaken up and holding their parents while crying. There were people bleeding and parents sitting on the floor holding their children waiting for EMTs. It was a very chaotic site.' Tami Hackett, from Houston, Texas, was also on the ferry when it crashed, along with her daughter, her daughter's husband, and their twin three-year-old daughters. 'Suddenly we crashed into something and we all went flying forward falling,' she told the Daily Mail. 'The stroller landed on its back causing the girls to hit their heads. A lot of people screaming and really hurt bad.' She added that upon getting off the boat 'there no announcement on what to do if injured.' 'We were concerned the girls had concussions so waited on the dock for direction, none came,' she continued. 'When EMT finally got there I watched as they were just as confused with no direction from staff.' She said when they finally 'flagged down an EMT' he checked the girls and said they were OK. 'He expressed his disbelief on how the park handled the entire situation and the chaos,' she added. Several other people who claimed to be on the water vessel when the horrific incident occurred took to Reddit to share their account of what happened. They told similar stories of being 'thrown all around' and 'getting crushed by a surge of people.' 'The ferry boat from Magic Kingdom to TTC crashed while I was on it,' read the title of the Reddit post. 'Very scary scene. Happened about 11.40pm during a heavy storm,' the user wrote. 'Boat was approaching the TTC dock when the boat came to a sudden and complete stop, throwing every passenger forward.' 'I was on that ferry! It was insane. People thrown forward all around. No warning, just a loud crash and sudden stop approaching the dock,' someone else shared in the comment section. 'I think they hit the cement jetty.' 'It was scary. We were right down the front and could see it heading toward the dock and it wasn't getting any slower,' recounted another person. 'Luckily we were able to brace for impact but then got crushed by a surge of people from behind... Girl by us was quite badly injured.' 'Multiple people taken off on stretchers, many others witnessed lying on the ground waiting for medical evaluation. Dozens of people injured,' read a third comment. 'We were on it and four or five of us were injured,' shared a different person. 'It was complete chaos and the staff had no clue how to handle it. Very disappointed with Disney and how they handled this.' 'I was on that ferry with my daughter and mother on the lower deck. We fell hard and slid,' revealed someone else. 'I was Ubering [at] Disney last night, as I usually do. I had to continuously pull over for police, ambulances and fire trucks, I kept thinking, "Where's the accident?"' shared a different user. 'I finally got to TTC, picked up my passengers. They were shaking, the mom had blood dripping down her face, eye, and all over her hands. 'Her little boy was also bleeding. I finally convinced them to let me take them to the hospital. 'She was in shock and refused to let EMTs check them out before leaving. Hopefully everyone has a quick recovery.' Theme park news site WDW News Today reported that there was a 'mutual aid call at 12.02am corresponding to the address for the TTC ferryboat landing.' "Mutual Aid" in this case refers to reciprocal assistance from multiple agencies across jurisdictional boundaries, particularly when the emergency is too big for one agency to handle,' the website added. The outlet said 19 people were transported to local hospitals, 'with at least eight people having major injuries.' The Daily Mail has reached out to Disney World for comment, but did not hear back.
