Wedding bus crash kills 10 in Australia

GRETA, Australia: A bus carrying wedding guests overturned and killed 10 people in an “unimaginable” nighttime crash as it travelled through a wine-growing area north of Sydney, police said Monday, announcing a string of charges against the driver. The white Linq Buslines coach was ferrying 35 passengers from a wedding at a local winery when it flipped onto its left side late on Sunday, coming to rest on the pavement alongside roadside barriers at the entrance to a major roundabout. It was Australia’s deadliest road accident in 16 years.

Police said they had charged a 58-year-old man with 10 offences relating to dangerous or negligent driving “occasioning death” and denied him bail ahead of a court hearing at nearby Cessnock on Tuesday. A dozen emergency workers wearing high visibility yellow vests were at the scene soon after the accident on a foggy night near the town of Greta, helping to ferry more than 20 people to hospital. Among those still in hospital, one patient was in a “critical” condition and 20 others were “stable”, police said.

After a daylong effort, bodies were still being recovered from the scene. Wedding photos shared on social media showed smiling guests from the party gathered on the lawn of a local winery in celebration, just hours before the accident — the deadliest on official records since 2007. Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman described a “frantic scene” in the aftermath of the crash. Emergency responders “were able to smash the front windscreen of the bus in order to pull some people, or assist some people out of the bus”, she said.

“Those that were able to, walked themselves.” No children were believed to be involved, she added. The passengers were presumably heading to their accommodation after the festivities, Chapman said. No other vehicles appeared to have been involved in the crash, she said. Police declined to discuss the possible cause of the crash. “For a joyous day like that in a beautiful place to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and sad, and so unfair,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in Canberra.

“People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe, and that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy.” Albanese sent his wishes for the recovery of those in hospital, and thanks to the emergency workers. “I want to give our thanks to the first responders, those who arrived at this terrible scene. I cannot imagine what they were confronted with, what they had to deal with,” he said. The area is being examined by specialist forensic police and a Crash Investigation Unit.

The Hunter Valley region is replete with vineyards, kangaroos and native bushland, making it a popular spot for tourists and group outings. New South Wales Premier Chris Minns sent his “deepest condolences” to the families and loved ones of those killed and injured. Wedding guests had come together to experience a “day of joy” and had instead been met with “undeniable despair”, he told reporters. “The next few days and the next few weeks may be worse than the initial shock as it fully comes to the realization of what this community has gone through.” – AFP