The bus was travelling to Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed, a Welsh-medium secondary school on Duffryn Way in Newport, when it hit a bridge at Maindee West between Newport and Cwmbran, according to Transport for Wales. Emergency services including South Wales Fire and Rescue Service and the Welsh Ambulance Service attended the scene. The road was closed with diversions in place but has since reopened.
Jo Townsend, whose 13-year-old son Gruff was one of the pupils taken to hospital, described the incident. "I was worried, frantic. I went under the tape, I was getting to my son," she said, as reported by BBC Wales. "You send them off to school and you think everything will be ok... you don't expect anything like this to happen."
She said the "whole top of the bus came off" and her son was on the upper deck at the back. "He said it all went dark and then lights were flickering, there was the sounds of screaming and metal scraping metal," she added. Gruff was apparently "hit in the head with a pole" during the crash but was being treated for bumps and scratches.
A nearby nursery, Lullabyz, moved its children elsewhere and allowed paramedics to use its site for treatment. The bus was removed from the scene by midday, with the ripped-off roof recovered first. There was no visible damage to the bridge.
Transport for Wales said rail services faced delays and cancellations between Newport and Hereford for most of Tuesday morning. Newport council said it was working with emergency services and its priority was "ensuring the well-being of those involved in the collision."