[News] Bus carrying 27 schoolgirls to NASA space camp smashes into truck and rolls over

A bus carrying 27 female students from Loreto College Ballarat, en route to the airport for a school trip to NASA space camp at Kennedy Space Centre, crashed into a truck and flipped.

A teenage girl was left seriously injured after the bus rolled off the motorway near Melbourne, Florida.

The horrifying incident happened in the early hours of Wednesday morning, September 21, at 3.15am in Bacchus Marsh just outside of the state capital.

Only one girl and the male driver of the truck were reported to be injured in the collision, with the teenager thought to be in a serious yet stable condition.

She was flown to the Royal Children’s Hospital.

The other 26 schoolgirls, four adults and bus driver were taken to hospital for observation.

Photos from the scene show the student’s luggage scattered across the area.

The itinerary for the school trip was six nights at the NASA space camp, lunch with an astronaut, two nights in Washington which included a tour of the US Capitol building and an airboat tour of the Florida Everglades.

A spokeswoman for Loreto College Ballarat told Daily Mail Australia: “There are meetings going on at the minute with just the fall out from everything. Everyone is fine. We had injuries but there are no fatalities.”

Victoria Police released a statement on its official website, it read: “Police are investigating a collision between a truck and school bus in Bacchus Marsh early this morning.

“The collision occurred on the Western Highway, near the intersection of Condons Lane, causing the bus to roll down an embankment about 3.15am. One teenage girl will be airlifted to hospital with serious injuries. The male truck driver will be taken to hospital by road with serious injuries.

“The Melbourne-bound lanes of the Western Highway are expected to remain closed for several hours and motorists are urged to take an alternative route. Any concerned parents seeking information regarding their children are asked not to attend the scene and to instead call Ballarat Police Station.”