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Woman, 30, killed and 16 children injured in school bus crash

A 30-year-old woman has died and 16 children have been injured after a school bus and a car collided in Queensland.

The woman, from Chinchilla, was a passenger in the car and died at the scene on the Warrego Highway at Wallumbilla in Queensland's Maranoa region, police said.

A 37-year-old woman, who was driving the car and also from the Western Downs, was taken to hospital in a critical condition.

Police said preliminary inquiries indicated just after 3pm on Friday the car and the bus collided head-on about 50km east of Roma.

A 110km/h sign on the Warrego Highway near Wallumbilla, Queensland.
A portion of Warrego Highway near Wallumbilla. Source: Google Maps, file

The most seriously injured of the 16 children and the 58-year-old driver aboard the bus was a child who suffered multiple leg fractures.

The highway was closed during the evening while Forensic Crash Unit investigators scoured the scene, but it had since reopened.

Queensland Ambulance Service Superintendent Loretta Johnson said one of the children was suffering "critical" injuries when paramedics arrived on scene.

"When the ambulance first arrived on scene from Roma they were faced with one deceased patient sadly in the vehicle and one seriously injured driver of the vehicle, and 16 school children on the bus," she said.

"One of those children was suffering critical injuries."

Ms Johnson also described the crash aftermath.

"There was some significant damage... to the passenger side of the bus and to the vehicle that collided with the bus, there was a lot of damage," she said.

The driver and passenger of the car were also initially "significantly entrapped" in the vehicle, the Queensland Ambulance Service said in a statement.

with AAP

Anyone with more information is urged to contact police at Policelink by providing information using the online suspicious activity form 24 hours a day at www.police.qld.gov.au/reporting or call 131 444.

Report crime information anonymously via Crime Stoppers. Call 1800 333 000 or report online at www.crimestoppersqld.com.au.

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