Hunter Valley wedding bus crash worst since 12 killed at Boondall in 1994
Wedding bus crash is Australia’s worst road disaster in nearly 30 years – with 10 fatalities
- Greta bus crash is Australia’s worst since 1994
- The worst road accident happened in Kempsey in 1989
The Greta bus accident that killed ten wedding guests in the NSW Hunter Valley is Australia’s worst road disaster for nearly 30 years.
A coach carrying 39 passengers traveling from the Wandin Estate winery rolled into a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in Greta around 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
At least ten people were killed and 25 others suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospitals, including John Hunter in Newcastle and Royal Prince Alfred in Sydney.
The 58-year-old bus driver was also taken to hospital for examination and is being arrested at Cessnock police station as police consider pressing charges.
Buses have been involved in every road accident in Australia where 10 or more people have been killed.
Twelve passengers were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying war widows rolled onto the Gateway Motorway near Boondall in suburban Brisbane on October 24, 1994 (above)
A bus carrying 39 passengers traveling from the Wandin Estate winery rolled into a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in Greta around 11:30 p.m. Sunday
Twelve passengers were killed and dozens injured when a bus carrying war widows rolled onto the Gateway Motorway near Boondall in suburban Brisbane on 24 October 1994.
The group had traveled from Maryborough on Queensland’s Fraser Coast for a day of shopping at the Logan Hyperdome.
A coronary investigation revealed that welding on a steering rod had broken and the bus suddenly banked to the right across the road.
Eleven people were killed and 38 injured when a bus carrying mostly senior citizens from Newcastle skidded over an embankment near Mount Tamborine in south-east Queensland on 25 September 1990.
The tour bus rolled near the intersection of Henri Roberts Drive and King Parrot Court and came to rest against a large gum tree.
The cause of the crash was not determined, but heavy vehicles were subsequently banned from using the route.
The two worst road disasters in Australian history occurred within eight weeks of each other, killing 56 people by the end of 1989.
Full coaches collided head-on on 22 December 1989 on the Pacific Highway at Clybucca Flat, 12 km north of Kempsey on the NSW mid-north coast, killing 35 passengers
The Grafton bush crash killed 21 and injured 22 when a semi-trailer swerved to the wrong side of the Pacific Highway in northern NSW and collided with a Sunliner Express on October 20.
An investigation revealed that both vehicles were driving above the speed limit on a dirt road only 20 feet wide.
At the time, it was the worst accident in the country’s road transport history in terms of lives lost.
On 22 December that year, two full coaches collided head-on on the Pacific Highway at Clybucca Flat, 7 miles (12 km) north of Kempsey on the NSW mid-north coast.
In what became known as the Grafton bus crash, 35 passengers were killed and 41 injured. It remains Australia’s worst road accident.
A coronal judicial investigation revealed that the driver of a bus had fallen asleep at the wheel. Neither bus was speeding and no mechanical failures were found.
The Kempsey and Grafton accidents resulted in recommendations to upgrade the Pacific Highway to a dual carriageway between Newcastle and Queensland.
On November 2, 1993, ten people were killed when a semi-trailer collided with a bus near Wangaratta in northeastern Victoria.
All of the dead were members of the Anglo-Indian Association and were on their way to Corowa on the NSW side of the Murray River for an outgoing Melbourne Cup Day.
Police fear there may be more dead passengers on the bus that crashed near Greta.
The bodies of the deceased have not yet been removed from the spot where the bus is still lying on its side.
7News reported that the death toll was ‘likely’ to rise to 15.