Some burst into tears as their school bus erupted in flames, while others were excited by the sheer drama of it all.

The most important thing for the heads of Somersfield Academy and Warwick Academy was that no one was hurt.

Seven Somersfield and six Warwick students, ranging in ages from about 5 to 16, were making their way from the West End to school on the bus when a blaze broke out in Warwick yesterday. All of them had made it to the safety of Warwick Post Office before the worst of the fire engulfed the vehicle.

According to Carlos Symonds, head of school at Somersfield, and David Horan, principal at Warwick, the students involved would now be seeing school counsellors.

Mr Symonds told The Royal Gazette: “Our main concern, of course, was the safety of the students.

“The students arrived safely. I have not had an opportunity to interview them. However, a number of students were picked up by parents at the scene.

“We sent out an alert to parents to advise them and we were in contact with PTB who advised us of the engine problems and assured us that the students would be transferred to a second bus, brought to Hamilton and transferred from there to the school.

“We will have our counsellors debrief the students and address any concerns after what was an exciting morning for a few of them. The younger ones seemed excited by it, but the counsellors will be monitoring them.”

Mr Horan said the primary concern of its staff was the emotional wellbeing of students and the effective communication with the parents of students involved.

“This has been our focus all morning with counsellors and senior managers making sure that our students are supported as they work through their experience,” Mr Horan said.

“We are very relieved that all occupants of the bus are safe and that there were no reported injuries.”