By Cronan Scanlon

THE Principal of the Royal and Prior where students involved in Monday's bus crash attended has appealed for the public not to engage in "speculation".

The Bus Eireann bus was travelling from Derry and had collected 28 secondary school students from the Raphoe school when it collided with the car which was travelling from Ballybofey at around 4.30pm.

The bus overturned in to a field as a result of the impact.

A fleet of ambulances rushed to the scene from Letterkenny General Hospital along with a number of units from the Fire Service.

The driver of the Volkswagen Passat car, a 34 year old man from Letterkenny, had to be cut free, however he died a short time later in hospital.

He has been named as Bernard Doherty of Coolboy, Letterkenny.

None of the bus passengers were detained overnight in hospital and were only treated for minor injuries.

Mr Des West, Principal, said: "it is important not to engaged in rumour about the circumstances of the accident as this could be distressing for others, especially if they are not accurate".

He added that students should wear seatbelts at all times and should "learn a lesson" from Monday's accident.

Gardai confirmed that while the 1997 Volvo bus was fitted with seatbelts, none of the students were wearing them.

Mr West paid tribute to the "efficiency and professionalism" of the emergency services and to the emergency team in the hospital.

The head of the Accident and Emergency department at Letterkenny General Hospital (LGH), Dr Gerry Lane, said Monday's accident was the third "bus event" that their emergency team had to deal with in the last few years.

"Letterkenny General Hospital has already prepared an emergency plan for the upcoming Donegal International Rally and a Major Incident exercise was put in to practice during last Wednesday's Manchester Utd V Chelsea Champions League final.

"This included the sending of 1,000 texts to hospital personnel in the event of a major incident," Dr Lane said.

A spokesperson for Bus Eireann said there were no safety issues with the bus involved in the accident and expressed their sympathy to the family of the deceased.

The road was re-opened to traffic on Tuesday afternoon past after examinations were carried out by the gardai's accident investigation team.

'It's important not to engaged in rumour about the circumstances of the accident.'