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Jockey 'couldn't sleep' after school coach crash

News imagePA Media Four people stand with their backs turned outside Minehead Middle School. They are looking at bunch of flowers which have been lined up against the metal fence outside the school. There is a red balloon in the shape of a heart attached to the fence.PA Media
Bunches of flowers were lined against the fence outside Minehead Middle School on Friday

A former professional jockey who helped teachers and pupils involved in a coach crash says he "couldn't sleep" after what he had witnessed.

Alan Jones said he had transported passengers to safety on his quad bike after the coach being used for a Minehead Middle School trip crashed near Wheddon Cross in Somerset on Thursday.

A 10-year-old boy died after the coach left the A396 at Cutcombe Hill and slid down a 20ft slope during the return journey from Exmoor Zoo. Six children and three adults remain in hospital.

"They're just so innocent and it wasn't their fault. It was a sorry sight," Mr Jones said.

The 64-year-old, who now works as a trainer, said he had taken eight adults and children to the Rest and Be Thankful Inn in Wheddon Cross, which was set up as a safe hub after the crash.

'Crying and upset'

Mr Jones said he had used his quad bike to get to Cutcombe Hill via fields.

He said the crash site was in "the most remote place" and he thought it "would have been wrong not to try and help".

He described how he had first picked up two teachers on the side of the road, then saw a group of children and one adult who were trying to get to the safe hub.

"You could see they were injured and crying and upset. It was too far, these were very young middle school children," he said.

"They'd just been upside down in a bus, over a cliff, all the windows had broken in the bus, and they'd scrambled out and been helped out by emergency services.

"I presume some of them were told to make their way up but they just couldn't walk up," he added.

News imagePA Media A female police officer in uniform talks to residents standing next to a police car in Wheddon Cross in Somerset after a coach crash.PA Media
A large emergency service operation was set up in response to the crash

When Mr Jones got further up the road, ambulances picked up the two teachers he was transporting and he returned to help another teacher and child.

He said: "They were in shock. They didn't really say a lot.

"One teacher said: 'I'm never going back on a bus or coach ever again'."

Fundraisers set up for affected families have raised tens of thousands of pounds.

Tributes have been left at Minehead Middle School, which remained closed on Friday.

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