Seoul, South Korea—Metal scraped against asphalt in a violent screech of tearing brakes before a chartered school bus careened through a steel guardrail and tipped onto its side across two lanes of the regional expressway. Shattered glass blanketed the fast lane as terrified passengers scrambled through emergency roof hatches into the damp morning air.
Passing motorists slammed on their brakes, creating a sudden traffic bottleneck stretching back several miles behind the overturned wreckage. Drivers rushed to assist trapped children and instructors still trapped inside the tilted hull.
Emergency fire units and highway patrol squads arrived within minutes, deploying hydraulic spreaders to pry open jammed emergency exit doors while paramedics set up triage tarpaulins along the grassy road shoulder.
Provincial fire headquarters confirmed that dozens of students and accompanying staff members sustained varying degrees of impact trauma, fractures, and lacerations. Fleet transport coordinators rushed to the scene as victims were loaded into a convoy of ambulances bound for regional trauma centers.
Highway patrol investigators began examining skid marks and digital tachograph discs to determine whether excessive speed or sudden mechanical steering failure caused the driver to lose control near the sharp curve.
Transport ministry inspectors sealed off the damaged coach while recovery cranes prepared to winch the heavy vehicle upright to clear the blocked arterial route before evening rush hour.
School board representatives established an emergency information center at the destination campus to update anxious parents arriving in waves from nearby municipal districts.
The expressway lane remained closed under flashing orange warning beacons as technical accident reconstruction teams mapped the trajectory of the vehicle across the rain-slicked tarmac.
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