Ten wedding guests dead and more injured after bus crash in Australia

The driver of a bus was charged on Monday after the vehicle carrying wedding guests rolled over in Australia’s wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25 in one of the nation’s deadliest road accidents in almost 30 years, police said.

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

Emergency services were called to the Wine Country Drive in the Hunter Valley near the town of Greta at 11.30pm on Sunday after reports that a bus had rolled over.

Police said 18 passengers escaped injury. But they later said there were only 36 people on the bus: the 10 dead, the 25 injured and the driver. The 18 were the least seriously injured among the passengers taken to hospitals.

The passengers had reportedly attended a wedding at the Wandin Estate Winery and were heading to their accommodations in the town of Singleton, assistant police commissioner Tracy Chapman said.

One man who had attended the celebration told local media: “It was a nice day, a pretty good wedding... fairytale stuff really... and we got the news that there had been a crash, and we all started panicking.”

The driver, a 58-year-old man, was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment, police said.

Conditions on the road were reportedly foggy at the time, with visibility reduced to about 100m.

A motorist who drove past the crash scene, identified by Australian Broadcasting Corp only as Alison, said the fog was so heavy she could not make out the colors of the flashing lights of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks. “The fog was terrible,” she told the ABC. “You could barely see in front of you.”

The NSW police statement added that a “large-scale emergency response” had commenced and included “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”.

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

Police said they have established a crime scene at the site. The investigators are yet to determine what caused the bus to roll on its side, said police commissioner Karen Webb.

“The cause may not be known for some time. It will require scientific examination, the officer said. Whether passengers were wearing seatbelts also “will come under scrutiny”, she added. Jay Suvaal, the mayor of nearby Cessnock, said the crash was “truly horrific.”

“We are a major wedding and tourist destination in the Hunter Valley, and so there will be people from all over the state and the country that have been to these areas and have probably done similar things,” he told Network Nine.

“I think it will send shock waves right through the broader community.”

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese offered his “deepest sympathies” to those that lost loved ones and thanked emergency services for their efforts at the scene.

In a tweet from his account, he said: “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.

“For a day of joy to end in such devastating loss is cruel indeed. Our thoughts are also with those who have been injured.

“Thank you to all the first responders who rushed to the scene, and those continuing to assist and care for those affected by this tragedy.”

Tanya Plibersek, the minister for water and the environment, also paid tribute to those who died in the tragic incident.

In a post on Twitter, she said: “Horrible news overnight of a bus crash in the Hunter Valley. A day of celebration ending in tragedy. Just terrible. Thinking of those who have lost loved ones, those who are injured, and the whole community.”

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

Additional reporting by agencies