A PARTY of British schoolchildren who survived a motorway crash in Germany that killed one of their friends arrived home yesterday to be reunited with their families.
The pupils, from Thomas Mills High School, in Framlingham, Suffolk, who had been travelling to Fugen, Austria, on a half-term skiing trip, were said to be in shock after the death of Stuart Dines, 14.
Stuart died in an accident involving the school coach, a lorry and a second coach carrying pupils from the independent Norwich School on Saturday. A British man, thought to be the assistant driver of the second coach, was also killed.
Police and teachers escorted the distressed pupils into Thomas Mills High School in the early hours of yesterday morning. Relatives and trauma counsellors were waiting to meet them.
Last night Stuart’s parents, Robert and Jackie Dines, paid tribute to their son. “Stuart would always make you laugh, whatever the situation. He was a very loyal son and brother who was extremely caring and could never be replaced,” they said in a statement.
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“He will never be forgotten by anyone who knew him and will remain with us for ever.”
Suffolk County Council said that an educational psycholoigist would be available during the remainder of the half-term break if any of the 54 Thomas Mills pupils, aged between 12 and 16, needed counselling.
The accident happened on the A4 motorway between Kerpen Buir and Düren, southwest of Cologne, at about 3.25am on Saturday morning. A lorry is believed to have crashed into the stationary coach carrying the pupils from Thomas Mills School an hour after it had stopped on the motorway hard shoulder to deal with a punctured tyre.
Stuart, of Woodbridge, Suffolk, is believed to have been killed by a piece of metal from the lorry, which smashed through one of the coach windows. The second, smaller, coach, carrying 36 pupils and five members of staff from Norwich School, then ran into the two vehicles.
The dead man, who has not yet been named by police, was thought to be an assistant driver seated at the front.
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Of the 108 people involved in the accident, 28 were injured, four seriously, according to the German authorities. Two were being treated in hospital, including one with critical injuries.
None of the children from Norwich, who had been travelling to Schladming, in Austria, was hurt. They also arrived home yesterday.
Colin Hirst, the head teacher at Thomas Mills, paid tribute to Stuart, calling him “a lovely, lovely student”. He said that the boy, who was in Year 10 and studying for his GCSEs, represented the school rugby team and was a member of the trampolining club. “He was just a happy, lively young teenager.
“Clearly he enjoyed his time at Thomas Mills High School and he was well liked.”