Four children injured after school bus crashes into ditch east of London, Ont.
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NORWICH TOWNSHIP, ONT. – Four children were taken to hospital with minor injuries on Wednesday morning after their school bus crashed east of London, Ont., where police said freezing rain had left the road covered in ice.
Ontario Provincial Police in Oxford County said the bus carrying around 40 elementary school students left the road and hit the ditch in Norwich Township shortly before 9 a.m.
Const. Randi Crawford said the investigation is ongoing.
“However, I think it’s fairly accurate to be able to say that weather will definitely be a contributing factor in this crash,” she said a little before noon on Wednesday. “Even right now, it’s still ice-covered and continues to rain.”
The bus was transporting students from East Oxford Central Public School, the school board said in a statement. The Thames Valley District School Board said it appreciated the “quick response of the bus operator and emergency services.”
Bus cancellation decisions for Thames Valley and the local Catholic school board are made by a nonprofit consortium, the board said. The consortium did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Several southern Ontario school boards had cancelled buses or closed their schools in anticipation of Wednesday’s storm. The crash area was on the edges of an area that was subject to a freezing rain warning, with Environment Canada cautioning there could be slippery roads, strong winds and up to seven millimetres of ice buildup.
Crawford, the police spokesperson, stressed that the crash is under investigation but to her knowledge there were “no other elements” besides the weather that may have contributed.
“It was obviously a situation where the children were all really shaken up and we’re thankful for the Good Samaritans that stopped by and offered aid to the students and the bus driver,” she said.
Police said Old Stage Road between Middletown Line and Old 14 Line was closed in the aftermath of the crash but has since reopened.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 18, 2026.