Ten killed, dozens injured in worst bus disaster in decades, as driver charged over tragedy

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The wedding bus driver who crashed in the Hunter Valley, killing 10 passengers and injuring dozens more in Australia’s worst road disaster in nearly three decades, will face court on Tuesday morning after being charged with a string of serious offences.

Emergency service workers frantically tried to save wedding guests trapped in the coach which flipped on a roundabout on Wine Country Drive at Greta, near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp, at about 11.30pm on Sunday.

Police said the horrific end to a picturesque wedding would hang over bus driver Brett Button “for the rest of his life”.

Button, 58, picked up 35 passengers from the wedding of Maddy Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney at Wandin Estate winery in Lovedale late on Sunday. The young couple and many of their guests were residents of the nearby town of Singleton, which has been devastated by the disaster.

Emergency dispatchers declared a major incident as medi-helicopters and ambulances converged on the foggy road.

“Major incident declared. We have a bus rollover. Multiple patients,” desperate audio from a paramedic revealed.

As of Monday night, one patient was in a critical but stable condition and eight patients in a stable condition at John Hunter Hospital; two patients were in a stable condition at Maitland Hospital; one patient was in a stable condition at Calvary Mater Newcastle; and two patients were in a stable condition at RPA, according to NSW Health.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and NSW Premier Chris Minns led tributes to those killed and injured, as the country struggled to come to terms with the crash which involved people from multiple states.

Speaking at the scene, Minns said: “This has been a terrible, terrible event in the history of NSW.”

“Whatever the final toll is … it will be more than we can bear.”

The prime minister told the crash survivors: “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.

NSW Police sources, not authorised to speak publicly, said drug and alcohol tests showed the driver was sober. They were told by passengers Button was allegedly driving erratically in the moments before the crash.

Police took the 58-year-old to Cessnock station and charged him with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving occasioning death.

Button will remain in custody in Cessnock police station until Tuesday morning.

The bus was expected to be moved from the scene overnight to a holding yard, where it will continue to be examined by crash investigators.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the cause of the accident may not be known for some time and the state coroner will be involved in the investigation.

She said the coroner would investigate whether it was Button’s responsibility to ensure the passengers on the late night charter bus were wearing seatbelts.

“Ultimately, the driver will have to think about that for the rest of his life,” Webb said.

Webb said officers faced the “arduous task” of matching passengers to property located on the bus.

“Whether they were actually wearing seatbelts or not, or whether it was fitted with seatbelts, certainly all of that will come under scrutiny,” she said.

The bus was finally righted on Monday afternoon, a necessary but “delicate” step for officers trying to recover the bodies, Webb said.

“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.

When emergency services were first called to the scene late on Sunday they had to smash their way through the Linq bus windshield to reach survivors.

“It was a fairly frantic scene, a number of passengers we were able to extract from the front windscreen of the bus,” Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said.

“In terms of those who are deceased, we certainly have a list of people who we’re still trying to account for, and [we are] working through that.”

Wandin Estate winery placed a sign on its fence on Monday stating it was closed “out of respect”. In a statement, the venue offered its “heartfelt condolences” to the family and friends of the victims.

“We are supporting them in any way we can,” it said.

Linq Buslines, through a spokesperson, said they were “incredibly saddened to learn of the bus crash that has occurred”.

“Our hearts are with everyone involved in this terrible tragedy and we send our deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones,” the spokesperson said, thanking emergency services.

The small towns in the heart of wine country have been left devastated by the crash.

NSW Police Minister Yasmin Catley said she was struggling to comprehend the “unnecessary loss of life”.

“To think of an occasion that is usually of such celebration, to turn into something of such devastation. One that these families, and quite frankly this community, will never forget.”

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