A school secretary died today after suffering severe injuries when two coaches taking British children on half-term holiday skiing trips were involved in a crash with a lorry on a German motorway.
Jane Irving, 53, secretary at the private Norwich School in Norwich died in hospital in Germany following the crash near Cologne in the early hours of Saturday. She was the third person to die as a result of the accident, in which a 14-year-old boy from Woodbridge, Suffolk, and a British coach driver were also killed.
The accident happened on the A4 autobahn after a coach carrying 55 people plus staff from the Thomas Mills High School in Framlingham, Suffolk, suffered a puncture and had to pull on to the hard shoulder.
The stationary coach was then hit from behind by a lorry carrying sheet metal. The lorry jack-knifed and was then in collision with a second British coach carrying 36 pupils plus staff from Norwich School.
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German police were today continuing to investigate the cause of the crash. Both coaches were carrying children to ski resorts in the Alps and had left England on Friday.
Stuart Dines, 14, a Year 10 at Thomas Mills, and a reserve driver on the coach carrying the Norwich School pupils were declared dead shortly after the accident. The dead driver has not yet been named.
Jim Hawkins, the head of Norwich School, today paid tribute to Mrs Irving, a mother of two who had worked at the school since 1999. He said she was a secretary for the school’s Common Room who worked with a large number of staff.
“She was very well liked and been with us for some years,” he said. “There was no such thing as a crisis with Jane. She would face all difficulties with a calm smile and sense of proportion. She will be very much missed. We are very sad.
“She died at about 4am today and her family were in Cologne with her. She had two grown-up children. We knew from the outset that she had serious injuries, not only to her limbs but also internally.”
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He said staff had made efforts to let all the children involved in the crash know that Mrs Irving had died. He said counsellors were on hand during the half-term holiday week for any pupils who needed support.
Mr Hawkins added that the tragedy would be discussed at a school assembly when term resumed next week.