School-bus crash victim was killed on her 16th birthday

A GIRL killed when her school bus was in a crash with an oncoming car lost her teenage brother only three years ago.

Chloe Walker died on the day she turned 16 when the bus taking her home from school hit a car on the A66 near Keswick, in Cumbria.

Yesterday, Chloe was described as a "delightful" youngster whose tragic death came just three years after her brother Jordan died from the degenerative condition sanfilippo.

She was killed along with Kieran Goulding, 15, from Whitehaven.

The smash also claimed the life of pensioner Patrick Short, from Braithwaite, who was behind the wheel of the only other vehicle involved.

Both youngsters were studying at Keswick School in the Lake District and were on their way home on a 49-seater coach.

Mike Chapman, head of Keswick School said: "The second tragedy in the family is just awful.

"I cannot begin to describe how I would feel in those circumstances."

Chloe should have been sitting her GCSE exams this week and planned to go on to study A-Levels at the school's sixth form.

Mr Chapman added: "She was a bouncy, popular girl, no enemies, lots of friends, having a go at everything.

"A very straightforward, lovely girl. She was a classic Year 11 Keswick schoolgirl.

"Lovely, approachable, open, always smiling, delightful."

The head described 15-year-old Kieran as "always cheerful".

"He had a good group of close friends," Mr Chapman said.

"Very much part of the establishment, always cheerful.

"He was some way off his exams but he was on track for a successful GCSE career."

The coach they were on and the Honda Civic car driven by Mr Short were travelling in opposite directions on a straight stretch of the A66.

Police said the "early indication" was the car had crossed the centre line of the road when it hit the coach which then flipped over.

It is not yet known what may have caused 68-year-old Mr Short – children's services manager at Barnardo's Allerdale Children's Centre in Maryport – to cross to the wrong side of the road.

His wife Wendy said: "Patrick was a generous, principled man with wide-ranging interests and many talents. He loved me and the family and was committed to his work with Barnardo's.

"As a parish councillor, chair of Cumbria Rural Choirs and a former churchwarden, he was dedicated to the local community."

Inspector Richie Vernon of Cumbria Police said the "early indication" shows the coach was completely on its own side of the road at the point of impact.

"Inquiries also reveal that the Honda appeared to have crossed the centre line and collided with the coach."

The carnage was witnessed by around 100 other pupils in two other vehicles ferrying children home from the school.

Two 18-year-old sixth-form girls in a second vehicle rushed to give first aid to the injured and dying.

The head praised the conduct of both girls: "The girls got off the minibus and straight away went to the coach and started helping those injured."

Nine children were still in hospital today in various hospitals across Cumbria and in Newcastle, Preston and Middlesbrough.