One still in hospital after Scout bus crash

One of 10 British Scouts injured in a head-on crash in Canada remains in hospital, a spokesman for The Scout Association said today.

The teenagers were members of a group of 102 Scouts and their leaders enjoying a two-week adventure trip when the accident happened 150 miles north of Toronto at 6pm BST yesterday.

Simon Carter, spokesman for The Scout Association, said: "It looks like an articulated tractor crossed the central reservation and hit one of the buses."

The group, from West Lancashire, were travelling in convoy in two buses to Toronto to round off their trip with sightseeing and shopping.

Mr Carter said 10 girls and boys aged between 14 and 18 were taken to hospital suffering from minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, whiplash and shock.

He said: "One young person suffering from shock remains in hospital but her injuries are not life-threatening. She is under observation."

Mr Carter added: "We've spoken to all the parents of the children involved and appraised them of what's going on.

"We have a system whereby, as soon as an incident like this occurs, we have a team dedicated to speak to mums and dads which is what they've been doing all last night and it's still going on now.

"All of the young people who wanted the opportunity to call home would have got it last night."

He said parents had reacted calmly to news of the crash and added that The British Council had provided assistance to the Scout group.

The group travelled to Canada on 28 July and had been to two camps in the country. They were due to fly back on Monday.

They had enjoyed "wilderness" activities including camping, white water rafting and walking at the two different centres.

Mark Boileau, Constable and media relations officer for Ontario Provincial Police, said: "It appears that the tractor-trailer collided with the bus.

"They were both pushed on to one side of the road and the bus then partially flipped over and ended up in a ditch.

"It was lucky really because it happened only 200 metres from a community centre - a lot more people could have been hurt."

Peter Sturgess, principal officer for West Lancashire Scouts, said his wife, Kate, and son, Tom, were on board the coach.

"My son is fine. He bumped his head falling off his seat," he said. "His injury is indicative of the rest of them - bumps and bruises."