Schoolchildren 'escaped through smashed windows' after horror M53 bus crash that killed two

Witnesses have told how schoolchildren had to 'escape through smashed windows' after a devastating coach crash on the M53.

The horror crash on the Merseyside motorway claimed the lives of 15-year-old Jessica Baker and the driver, dad-of-two Stephen Shrimpton, when the coach flipped onto its side. A total of 58 people were onboard and four children were taken to hospital.

A 14-year-old boy whose injuries are said to be life-changing is among the injured. Eyewitnesses described seeing terrified children, who were pupils on their way to West Kirby all-girls grammar school and Calday Grange all-boys grammar school, jumping from the bus wreckage to safety.

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According to the Mirror, one witness tweeted a photo of the bus and wrote: “Coach on the side with school kids escaping from the back window.”

The family of Mr Shrimpton said he 'suffered medical issues' while at the wheel of the bus. Naming him on a GoFundMe page to pay for his funeral, his sister-in-law said he leaves behind a widow in her 30s and children aged eight and four.

She added: “He died in an ­accident after suffering medical issues at the wheel while driving students.”

Pupils in another coach ­travelling behind watched the horror unfold in front of them. Local Labour councillor Sherin Akhtar drove past the shattered vehicle just moments after the crash with her 13-year-old daughter.

She said: “There were clearly casualties outside, there were pupils on the floor. My son was in the coach behind.”

A paramedic at the scene on the M53 found one