Shouldn't it be 'were' instead?

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

On May 11 afternoon one of the two buses which was ferrying the group hit a road kerb, and the impact jerked the 20 student passengers in the bus off their seats,” SMU said in a media statement on Monday.

“The injuries sustained by the 20 affected students range from bruises and abrasions to more serious, a wrist fracture, a leg fracture, and a neck injury.”

  1. Is “In the afternoon of May 11” correct?
  2. Shouldn’t it be ‘were’ instead?
  3. Shouldn’t it be ‘on’ instead?

Thanks.

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Here is my version:

In the afternoon of May 11 one of the two buses which were ferrying the group hit a road kerb, and the impact jerked the 20 student passengers off their seats,” SMU said in a media statement on Monday.

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3

The point is that the relative pronoun ‘which’ refers to only one of the ferries. In that case I recommend ‘was’.

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4

Alan, I see that a comma after ‘two buses’ will settle the issue of which antecedent (one or buses) is to be considered for which.
… one of the two buses, which was ferrying the group …
Do you agree?

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In all honesty I would leave it as it is - the very fact that the verb is ‘was’ indicates that it was one bus only.

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