A police officer at the scene of a school bus crash in the Auckland suburb of Albany this afternoon says the crash could have been much worse.
The accident, involving the bus and two other vehicles, saw the bus go off the road and tilt against trees alongside Dairy Flat Highway at around 4pm.
It's thought 11 students were on board the bus at the time.
Four ambulances were sent to the scene and St John Ambulance says three patients were transported to hospital with moderate to minor injuries.
One of those patients was a child.
Sgt Andy Wallace, from the Waitemata East Road Policing Team says "looking at the position of where the bus was, if it had of been any further along the road, we could have been looking at a much more serious incident".
He says students involved were shaken, as were the parents who came to collect them, but no one was trapped.
"Thankfully no one was seriously hurt," he said.
It took over an hour for the road to reopen while emergency services removed the bus.
1NEWS was told by a parent of a student that the bus had swerved to avoid an incident on the bridge, which caused the crash.
But officers at the scene said they're not yet sure what happened.
"We've got to talk to the children on the bus, the bus driver, and several other witnesses including the drivers of the other cars," Sgt Wallace said.
"The road is wet, there’s been a lot of rain, so it’s a reminder for drivers to drive to the conditions, slow down and just be aware."
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