All but three of more than 20 students taken to the Royal Children's Hospital after a bus crash on Friday have been released.

Jake Maynard, 16, one of three students still in hospital, is expected to be allowed home today. There had been fears that he may have suffered spinal injuries in the accident.

Jake said he could just remember going into the tunnel and then waking up on the bus with a bloody nose.

"Some people were calm," he said. "Others were taking it a bit harder, crying and everything. I had to stay in my seat for a couple of minutes and then an ambulance man came. He put a neck brace on and slowly helped me out on to a stretcher."

About 40 Lyndhurst College students were returning to Melbourne from a camp in Queensland when the accident occurred in the Burnley Tunnel after a 23-hour bus journey.

A hospital spokeswoman said two students would remain under observation, possibly for several days.

She said both students were in a stable and comfortable condition.

The Age