Four people have been taken to hospital after a school bus carrying 44 people overturned in a field in County Down.

Pictures on social media showed children in uniform walking from the blue doubledecker bus, which had shattered windscreens.

The Northern Ireland ambulance service (NIAS) indicated most of the passengers had “minor injuries if any” such as cuts and bruises with eight people requiring more serious medical treatment.

In a later update it said most were well enough to be discharged at the scene.

“Initial reports indicated that approximately 70 people were onboard the bus. This figure has been revised to 43 and a driver.

“NIAS has assessed and treated patients at the scene, with four currently requiring further treatment at hospital.

“The remainder have either been, or are in the process of being assessed with a view to discharging at the scene.

“As this remains an ongoing incident, NIAS will provide further updates as appropriate.”

Local councillor Peter Wray said: “I don’t believe any of them [the injuries] are incredibly serious. The school are asking parents not to go to the scene … they are encouraging parents to go to the school.”

The Ulster Unionist councillor added: “My thoughts and my prayers are with everybody including the bus driver. Obviously when this happens with young people, it causes panic. My daughter goes to the same school.”

He said the incident did not involve any other vehicles. He added: “I think there was also some buses that were potentially behind, so some pupils will have seen this. As well as the people directly [affected], it could also cause some stress for other pupils or other people who have seen this incident and have been distressed by it.”

The incident happened at about 3.45pm. NIAS had said it was dealing with a “major incident” involving a bus carrying up to 70 passengers, saying it had dispatched “multiple resources” to the scene.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland described the incident as a “serious road traffic collision”.