No one was seriously hurt when this school bus went off the road Monda near Stewiacke, N.S. (CBC)Four children and a bus driver were taken to hospital Monday after their school bus slid off a rural road and into a ditch in central Nova Scotia.

The accident happened around 7:30 a.m. on Fort Ellis Road, near Stewiacke.

Sandy Lynds, co-ordinator of transportation for the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board, said 16 students were on the bus. Four suffered minor injuries and were taken to Colchester Regional Hospital in Truro for a checkup, he said.

Colchester County RCMP said the bus driver was also taken to hospital.

The children and driver suffered minor injuries such as bumps and bruises, said Paul Maynard, a spokesman for Nova Scotia's Emergency Health Services.

Lynds said the driver was trying to go around a farm tractor but went too far off the gravel road.

"The shoulder is very soft from the rain in the last 24 to 48 hours, and the shoulder gave way," Lynds said.

Kenny Creelman, who was driving the tractor the bus tried to pass, said he was shocked when he saw the accident in front of him.

Kenny Creelman was driving this farm tractor when a school bus passed him. (CBC)"I stopped and backed up and made sure that everybody was all right," he said.

Local farmer Curtis Moxsom, who owns the tractor Creelman was driving, said he blames the Department of Transportation for the condition of the road.

"They're not looking after this road like they should be," he said. "It's like a cart road in the 1930s and this year is 2009."

A Department of Transportation spokesman said officials are investigating, but the gravel road and its shoulder are in good condition and up to standards.

Melissa Brown, who had two children on the bus, said she checked out the scene of the accident and does not think it was the driver's fault.

"The road is notoriously bad there for sinkholes that you can't really see coming if you're heavy, until you're on top of them," she said.

After the incident, a second bus took the remaining students to school.

The RCMP said no charges are expected.