At least 10 people have died and 11 others are suffering critical injuries after a bus returning from a ‘fairytale’ wedding crashed at a roundabout in a small town in New South Wales.
The coach carrying 39 passengers was travelling from the Wandin Estate winery wedding venue in the Hunter Valley wine region when it rolled at a roundabout currently under construction on Wine Country Drive near the Hunter Expressway off ramp in Greta, 12km away, at 11.30pm on Sunday.
It’s understood the area was blanketed in heavy fog at the time of the crash.
The scene of the bus crash in Greta, 183km north of Sydney that has killed 10 wedding guests and left 11 others injured. Picture: Nine News
The bus driver, a 58-year-old man, was taken to hospital under police guard for assessment
Police said that 11 passengers had to be airlifted or taken by ambulance to hospital while 18 others were uninjured in the crash which is one of Australia’s deadliest road accidents in decades.
7News reported that the death toll ‘would likely’ climb to as high as 15. The most critically injured including those with lost limbs were taken to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, the largest trauma hospital in the region. Others were flown to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney for life-saving surgery.
Chilling audio from emergency radios responding to the crash reveals the horror of the scene.
‘Major incident declared. We have a bus roll over. Multiple patients,’ a first responder can be heard saying in recording from a triple-0 call shared by Today.
‘At this stage we have identified seven, I repeat, seven code fours.’
The bus driver, a 58-year-old man, was taken to hospital under police guard for assessment.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has sent his condolences to those involved in the crash.
‘All Australians waking up to tragic news from the Hunter send our deepest sympathies to the loved ones of those killed in this horrific bus tragedy,’ Albanese wrote on Twitter.
‘For a day of joy to end in such devastating loss is cruel indeed.’
A wedding guest told 7News: ‘It was a nice day, a pretty good wedding… fairytale stuff really… and we went to come back and get drunk, and we got the news that there had been a crash, and we all started panicking’
It’s believed that many of the guests had travelled from interstate with guests attending a wedding at the nearby Wandin Estate winery
It’s believed that many of the guests had travelled from interstate with guests attending a wedding at the nearby Wandin Estate winery.
One attendee spoke of his disbelief after being told about the tragedy.
‘It was a nice day, a pretty good wedding… fairytale stuff really… and we went to come back and get drunk, and we got the news that there had been a crash, and we all started panicking,’ an attendee told 7NEWS.
The Minister for Regional Roads and Maitland MP, described the crash as a ‘terrible tragedy’ .
‘Everybody is pulling together and basically it will be a case of making sure that the families and the community are supported in such a terrible time,’ she said.
The 58-year-old bus driver has been taken to hospital under police guard for assessment, NSW Police said
Police at the scene were reportedly trying to understand how a bus could have rolled at the ‘large’ roundabout.
Peta Hughes, a local business owner in Branxton just slightly north of Greta said the roundabout where the bus crashed had been reduced to one lane due to construction work.
‘They’ve got barriers and the safety bollards and things up around there. It’s a 40km/h zone,’ she told News Breakfast.
But Federal MP Dan Repacholi said he did not see how the road being reduced to one lane could have been an issue.
‘We drive around the Hunter roads every day of the week. Those roads in that area are good roads. So I really can’t see that being an issue,’ he told News Breakfast.
Cessnock Mayor Jay Suvaal said the driving conditions appeared to be ‘foggy’.
‘There does appear to have been a lot of fog around as well,’ he said.
‘Until we know the crash investigation circumstances we’re not really sure about what may have contributed to it.’
A crime scene has been established and will be examined by specialist forensic police and the Crash Investigation Unit.
After they were called to the scene, police said a ‘large-scale emergency response commenced involving officers from Hunter Valley Police District, Police Rescue, Traffic and Highway Patrol, NSW Ambulance paramedics, NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW Rural Fire Service, and various helicopters for hospital transports’.
Wine Country Drive remains closed between New England Highway and Bridge St, along with northbound & southbound off-ramps from Hunter Express to Wine Country Drive.
Motorists have been advised to use an alternative route and allow extra travel time.
It is believed to be one of the worst road accidents involving multiple fatalities in almost 30 years.
In 1994, a bus crash in Boondall, Queensland, resulted in the death of 12 people.
A year later, a crash between a semi-trailer truck and a bus on Melbourne Cup Day in Wangaratte in Victoria led to the deaths of ten people.
This is a breaking story, more to follow…