Late on Sunday night in Australia’s New South Wales, a bus transporting wedding guests slid off a road, killing at least 10 people while bringing 11 more to the hospital in critical condition. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, who cited police.
Near the Hunter Motorway off-ramp in Greta, near the crash site on Wine Country Drive, emergency personnel worked into the night. Initial investigations, according to a statement from the police, showed that 10 persons had perished, and 11 others had been transported to hospitals by road and aircraft. 18 people also managed to escape unharmed, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
Emergency services were called to the site of the incident just after 11:30 pm (local time) after reports that a coach had rolled, according to police. A large-scale emergency operation is being conducted with Wine Country Drive closed in both directions between the New England Highway and the Bridge Street roundabout at Huntlee.
The driver of the bus was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment, as per the news report. The injured victims by road and air were taken to multiple hospitals in the Hunter Valley, including the John Hunter Hospital at New Lambton Heights and the Mater Hospital in Waratah.
A crime scene has been created, which will be analysed by specialist forensic police and the Crash Investigation Unit on Monday. Cessnock Mayor Jay Suvaal called the news of the bus crash “truly horrific,” The Sydney Morning Herald reported.
Speaking to Nine’s Today program, Jay Suvaal said, “It’s something that no one wants to wake up to,” according to The Sydney Morning Herald report. He further said, “My thoughts are obviously with the people involved in the accident, but their family and friends, as well as the first responders on the scene because it must have been truly horrible for them as well.”
