Three school children were injured in a bus collision with a partially fallen tree on Glenavy Road, Lisburn, on Thursday afternoon.
The accident occurred shortly before 16:05 GMT, as the bus was travelling down the road, where a tree had obstructed the route.
According to police, road closure signage had been removed prior to the incident, which they described as “extremely dangerous.”
Sergeant Jones emphasized that the removal of these signs could have led to a far more serious outcome.
Emergency services, including the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, and local police, responded promptly to the scene.
Although the road was closed for a period following the accident, it has since been reopened.
Lagan Valley MP Sorcha Eastwood, speaking to BBC News NI, expressed concern over the presence of the bus on a road that should have been closed.
“A number of local people have told me that basically signage was in place,” she said.
“This could have been preventable because there are so many signs right across Lagan Valley at the minute to say there’s an obstruction. Please be careful on the roads, whatever it may be, and people are removing [the signs].”
Eastwood pointed to the aftermath of Storm Éowyn, which left debris and hazardous conditions on the roads. ” “People should not be removing them, we’re still dealing with the after-effects of Storm Éowyn and there’s a reason that the signs are there.
“Unfortunately now we’ve seen this situation where a school bus has clipped an already fallen tree and unfortunately there were some minor injuries.
