Eight injured as German school trip coach crashes on Dutch motorway

Eight people were injured on Monday when a coach carrying dozens of German schoolchildren was involved in an accident in the Netherlands, police said.

The school said the coach was carrying two sixth-form classes from a school in Probstei, Schleswig-Holstein, with 54 pupils and four teachers on their way to Paris. 

The vehicle crashed into a van on the A28 motorway near Wezep in the early hours of the morning. The coach broke through the crash barrier and came to rest on the opposite carriageway.

Many escaped unscathed, but some suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital, police said. The drivers of the bus and the van were among those injured. 

None of the people suffered life-threatening injuries, with most of those affected having cuts from shards of glass. All were given first aid treatment and brought to a hall in Wezep, around 100 kilometres north-east of Amsterdam. The teens' parents have been notified, the school said.

The damage was extensive, and the motorway was closed off in both directions, police said.

The coach is operated by a transport company based in Vienna.