Eighteen elementary school students in northwestern B.C. are okay, but their school bus is damaged after a head-on crash with a pickup truck.

RCMP in Houston, about 60 kilometres south of Smithers, say the crash happened at around 4 p.m. Thursday afternoon on Highway 16, just west of the community.

The school bus ended up on its side off the shoulder of the road, but the driver and youngsters were unhurt.

The driver of the pickup suffered minor injuries and was treated in hospital in Smithers.

Mounties say charges could be laid against the pickup driver, noting the westbound truck swerved into the path of the eastbound bus while trying to avoid two stopped vehicles in the westbound lane.

The truck then clipped one of the two stopped vehicles but no one in that car was hurt.