At least 10 people have died and 15 others are in hospital after a wedding bus crashed in an Australian wine region north of Sydney, officials say.
The passengers were returning from a wedding at a winery on Sunday night in the Hunter Valley when their coach overturned near the town of Greta.
According to authorities, the incident happened on Sunday at 23:30 local time (13:30 GMT), when there was a lot of fog in the area, according to the police. While making a turn at a roundabout off of a highway, the bus rolled over. The car has now been pulled upright.
The 58-year-old bus driver has been charged by the police with ten counts of unsafe driving that caused death.
They said they are still working to identify the crash victims and contact their next of kin, “Family and friends of a person who may have been on board the bus are urged to contact Cessnock Police Station.”
The bus that crashed in the country of New South Wales wasn’t said to include the newlyweds.
The driver, who is from the town of Maitland, north of Sydney, has been refused bail and will appear in court in Cessnock on Tuesday.
Police commissioner Karen Webb said the site of the crash is “still an active crime scene. We’ve got forensics officers processing the crime scene, we’ve got crash investigation unit officers, we’ve got rescue officers on the scene,” she added.
New South Wales Police acting assistant commissioner Tracy Chapman said the guests were travelling to Singleton “presumably for their accommodation”. Two of the survivors were airlifted from the crash, she added. Local media report that at least one of them is still in critical condition.
Australian 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.
Albanese said some of the injured passengers are at John Hunter Hospital, but many had been flown to Sydney.
Hunter Valley in New South Wales is known for its vineyards and native bushland, making it a popular spot for wine lovers and group outings or celebrations.
READ ALSO FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNEÂ
and then