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Bus driver charged over Hunter Valley wedding bus crash that killed 10
By Sarah McPhee, Olivia Ireland, Megan Levy and Perry Duffin
A 58-year-old bus driver has been charged over a crash that killed 10 wedding guests in the Hunter Valley, which has been described by Premier Chris Minns as a “terrible event in the history of NSW”.
Police charged Brett Andrew Button, 58, with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, and one count of negligent driving occasioning death, late on Monday. Button, of the NSW town of Maitland, was arrested following the crash. He will face Cessnock Local Court on Tuesday.
The guests had attended the wedding of Maddy Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney at Wandin Estate winery in Lovedale on Sunday. They were travelling on Wine Country Drive at Greta when the coach rolled over at a roundabout near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp about 11.30pm.
Police sources earlier said the driver of the bus was not intoxicated and did not blow over the legal blood alcohol limit when tested after the crash. However, police believe he was driving erratically before the crash, a source said.
Webb said the bus has been pulled upright, in a delicate operation because people remained inside.
“We’ve got forensics officers processing the crime scene, we’ve got crash investigation unit officers, we’ve got rescue officers [on scene],” she said.
NSW Ambulance earlier confirmed 26 people had been taken to hospital – 12 to John Hunter Hospital, two to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, seven to Maitland, and five to Calvary Mater in Newcastle.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said the first agencies on scene were traffic and highway police, Fire and Rescue NSW and NSW Ambulance. She described it as a “confronting and very traumatic scene”.
“It was a fairly frantic scene, a number of passengers we were able to extract from the front windscreen of the bus,” Chapman said.
She said police were still working to identify the crash victims and contact their next of kin.
Chapman said the process of disaster victim identification “has to be followed so that we can make sure that we’re talking to the right family members, that family members are getting correct information, and that at the end of the day, a coronial inquest can positively confirm who it was that is deceased”.
Speaking at the crash scene, Minns said: “This has been a terrible, terrible event in the history of NSW.”
“A day that was meant to be a joyous one, where family and friends could come together to celebrate something really special, has obviously ended in unimaginable despair.”
He added: “Whatever the final toll is in this terrible accident, it will be more than we can bear.”
The winery placed a sign on its fence on Monday stating it was closed “out of respect”. In a statement, Wandin Valley Estate confirmed the crash had “claimed the lives” of some of its guests, adding that its “heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the victims and we are supporting them in any way we can”.
“At this time, we are providing support to those guests who need our help and we wish to maintain their privacy and won’t be making any further statements,” the winery said.
The bus company involved in the fatal crash has been identified as Linq Buslines, a business with more than 30 years experience and a base in the Hunter suburb of East Gresford.
On its website, the company says its coaches are equipped with seatbelts. The bus involved in the crash is a 2009 Volvo B7R that has 57 seats.
The large-scale emergency operation has closed Wine Country Drive in both directions between the New England Highway and the Bridge Street roundabout at Huntlee.
Conditions on the road were foggy at the time of the crash, with visibility reduced to about 100 metres. The bus was travelling to Singleton.
One man who attended the wedding said it had been a “fairytale” event, before news of the tragedy began filtering through.
“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 man told 7NEWS.
Audio from one of the first responders on the scene captured the frantic moments after the bus crashed.
“Major incident declared, we have a bus rollover, multiple patients,” said the NSW Ambulance inspector.
“I need all resources allocated to continue. I’m still trying to work out exactly how many patients I have here.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese issued a statement on Monday, telling the crash survivors in hospital: “Australia wraps its arms around you.”
“For a joyous day like that, in a beautiful place, to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair,” Albanese said. “People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe. And that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed his sorrow during a speech at Parliament House on Monday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
The Mayor of Cessnock, Jay Suvaal, said news of the fatal crash was “truly horrific” and “something that no one wants to wake up to”.
“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,” Suvaal said.
“I think it will send shockwaves right through the broader community.”
A crime scene has been established, which will be examined by specialist forensic police and the Crash Investigation Unit on Monday.
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