Girl killed in coach crash named

2010-03-31 202


A schoolgirl who died when a coach carrying a party of teenagers on a trip to a theme park crashed has been named by police.


Natasha Paton, 17, from Cleghorn, near Lanark, was in a group heading for Alton Towers in Staffordshire when their bus crashed on a bridge and plunged into a stream during a snowstorm.


Three others on the trip from Lanark Grammar School, South Lanarkshire, were seriously injured and NHS Lanarkshire said a total of 44 people had received hospital treatment following the crash.


Emergency services took the seriously injured children to hospital after the coach drove into water off the A73, at Wiston, in South Lanarkshire, shortly after 6am.


Local resident Bill Wood described "absolutely atrocious" conditions with heavy snow and high winds.


Superintendent Iain Murray, head of road policing for Strathclyde Police, said: "Our hearts and our thoughts go to the families and those who have been seriously injured." He also paid tribute to motorists who assisted at the roadside.


Local resident Mark Attwood said he was woken up by the sound of the crash. Soon afterwards, an adult came to his door and said a bus had landed on its side in the river.

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