Cops probe whether bus veered into oncoming traffic moments before deadly Bruce Hwy collision
Police will investigate whether a bus veered onto the wrong side of the road moments before colliding with a caravan and killing three people.
The Greyhound bus, carrying 33 people, was travelling north along the Bruce Hwy near Gumlu, in Queensland’s Whitsundays region shortly after 11am on Sunday when it crashed into a caravan carrying two elderly people.
The bus was pushed onto nearby train tracks when it collided with the caravan. Supplied Credit: Supplied
The Greyhound bus was travelling north along the Bruce Hwy towards Townsville. Credit: Supplied
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As of Tuesday morning, two men, aged 23 and 24, remain in hospital in a critical condition while two other men are in a stable condition.
It is understood the two people travelling in the second vehicle were miraculously uninjured.
Police have confirmed three women died at the scene, including a 56-year-old Townsville woman, a woman in her thirties and a woman in her twenties.
At the time of the crash, paramedics assessed 27 people at the scene, seven of which suffered life-threatening injuries following the collision on the state’s busiest road.
A passenger who did not want to be identified said she witnessed the impact from inside the bus.
“I just woke up and saw us hitting the caravan,” the passenger told 9News.
”The bus driver and a couple of civilians came in and they opened the door and helped get everyone out.”
The bus driver has reportedly given blood and urine samples to police and is being treated for mental health related issues.
Paramedics assessed 27 injured passengers at the scene before airlifting one patient to a nearby hospital. NewsWire / Scott Radford-Chisholm Credit: News Corp Australia
Police will also probe whether fatigue was a factor in the deadly collision.
Police Superintendent Graeme Paine described the scene as “very challenging” and “very complex” after the impact pushed the bus across nearby train lines.
“This is an extremely confronting incident, effectively, a mass casualty event,” he told the Today Show on Monday morning.
“When an incident like this occurs on an open road, being a highway, very significant impact, (it’s) very confronting for the first responders.
“I’d also like to acknowledge not just the work of the first responders, but also the community members on scene where the incident occurred. It takes a little while longer for emergency services to arrive, so those people that were on scene and some of the passengers in the bus did a lot of work providing that initial first aid.”
Greyhound Australia chief executive officer Dan Smith said the company will continue to work alongside police and offered his “deepest sympathies” following the “tragic incident”.