Driver charged after bus carrying wedding guests in Australia overturned, killing 10 and injuring 25 others

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A bus driver was charged Monday after the vehicle carrying wedding guests overturned on a foggy night in Australia’s wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25 others. in the country’s deadliest road accident in nearly 30 years. police said.

Brett Button has been in custody since Sunday night’s crash and will appear in court on Tuesday on multiple charges of dangerous and negligent driving, police said in a statement.

It is Australia’s deadliest road crash since 1994, when a bus skidded sideways on a highway and down a steep embankment in Brisbane, killing 12 people and injuring 38 others.

Sunday’s accident happened shortly after 11.30pm in foggy conditions at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales, north of Sydney.

The guests had attended a wedding at the Wandin Estate Winery and were heading to their accommodation in the town of Singleton, Chapman said. A guest told Seven News it was a lovely day and the wedding was a fairy tale.

A motorist who passed by the scene of the accident, identified by the Australian Broadcasting Corp. solely as Alison, said the fog was so thick she couldn’t make out the colors of the flashing lights of police cars, ambulances and fire engines.

“The fog was terrible,” she told ABC. “You could barely see ahead. »

Of the 25 people injured, one was in critical condition and several others remained in hospital, the state government said. The conditions of the others were described as stable.

Police said 18 passengers were uninjured. But they later claimed that there were only 36 people on board the bus: the 10 dead, the 25 injured and the driver. Of the hospitalized passengers, these 18 people were the least seriously injured.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said investigators have yet to determine what caused the bus to roll on its side.

“The cause may not be known for some time. This will require scientific review,” Webb told reporters.

Whether passengers were wearing seatbelts “will also come under scrutiny,” Webb said.

Chapman said rescuers smashed the front window to evacuate people from the crashed bus.

Linq Buslines, which provides school buses and event charters, owned the bus involved in the crash, media reported. Its website states that all of its buses are equipped with seat belts.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked first responders and offered the government’s support for the victims and their families, saying “the mental scars of this situation will not go away”.

“For a joyful day like this, in a beautiful place, to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel, so sad and so unfair,” Albanese told reporters.

“People hire a bus for weddings to keep their guests safe. And that only adds to the unimaginability of this tragedy,” he said.

Jay Suvaal, the mayor of Cessnock, said the accident was “really horrific”.

“We are a major tourist and wedding destination in the Hunter Valley, so there will be people from across the state and country who have been to these areas and likely done similar things,” he said. he declares. “I think this will send shockwaves through the whole community. »

Greta is in the heart of the Hunter Valley wine region, a scenic area dotted with vineyards and restaurants. This was the first established wine region in Australia.

The wedding took place in the middle of a long weekend, with Monday being a public holiday in most Australian states.

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Perry reported from Wellington, New Zealand.