Pupils evacuated from motorway coach blaze (From Western Telegraph)

Pupils evacuated from motorway coach blaze

29News: Coach blaze

A GROUP of Pembrokeshire schoolchildren were evacuated from their coach after it caught fire on the M4 on Monday evening.

Twenty-nine Pembroke School art students were returning from a day trip to the Tate Modern in London when passing motorists alerted the driver of the 56-seater Silcox coach.

Teacher Kate Jones then saw smoke coming from the dashboard and immediately evacuated the vehicle. The children were unhurt, although one girl had medical attention for hyperventilation and others were shocked.

The driver tried to put the fire out himself, but the coach quickly burnt out. Pupils were stranded on the hard shoulder of the motorway while firefighters tackled the blaze.

A Silcox spokesman said: The driver experienced a loss of power. A few minutes later it became apparent that there was a fire in the engine. The coach was just over a year old and was regularly serviced. The Vehicle Inspectorate is looking into the accident.

Headteacher Frank Cicotti said staff did an excellent job of controlling the situation and keeping children calm.

A county council spokesman said: Everyone behaved in the proper manner and the coach was evacuated quickly and without panic and no-one was hurt.