CANBERRA: At least 10 people were killed and 25 others injured when a wedding bus crashed in Australia’s New South Wales (NSW) state, police said on Monday.
The accident occurred at around 11.30 pm on Sunday near Greta in Hunter Valley when the passengers were returning from a wedding at a winery, the BBC reported.
The driver of the bus has been arrested, according to NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman. She said the guests were travelling to Singleton “presumably for their accommodation”.
The number of fatalities could increase, with 25 passengers taken to hospital — two of them airlifted from the crash, Chapman said.
She said the bus is still on its side and people could be trapped underneath; a crane would be brought to the scene “at some stage” to lift the bus.
Chapman said there was “sufficient information” for police to charge the coach driver, who was also sent to hospital and treated for minor injuries.
“He’s under arrest. He’s been the driver of a motor vehicle collision where there have been fatal injuries and there will be charges pending,” the BBC quoted the top police official as saying, adding that there had been heavy fog in the area around the time of the crash.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it is “so cruel, so sad and so unfair” for a “joyous day in a beautiful place like that to end with such terrible loss of life”.
“People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe, and that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy,” he said at a press conference in Canberra.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said the loss of so many lives was “nothing short of heartbreaking”, adding: “For this horrific crash to have occurred on a day that should have been filled with love and happiness only adds to the heartbreak.
“For a day of joy to end in such devastating loss is cruel indeed. Our thoughts are also with those who have been injured.”