Australia: In an unfortunate accident, at least 10 people were killed and 25 others injured after a bus carrying wedding guests overturned on a foggy night in Australia’s wine country. Assistant Commissioner of Police Tracey Chapman said the 58-year-old driver had been arrested and charged following the incident. The incident happened just after 11.30pm at an intersection on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales state, north of Sydney.
the guests were on their way to their accommodation
After attending the wedding ceremony, all the guests were going towards their respective residences. A guest told Seven News it was a beautiful day and a fairytale wedding. All the injured were taken to hospitals by helicopter and by road.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked first responders and offered government assistance to victims and their families, saying “the mental scars of this will not go away”. Albanese told reporters, “For such a happy day, in a beautiful place, to end with such a terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair.”
Albanese said, “People rent buses for weddings to keep their guests safe. And that adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy.”
fatal accident
Cessnock Mayor Jay Suval said the accident was “really horrific”. “We are a major wedding and tourist destination in the Hunter Valley, and so there will be people from all over the state and country who have been to these areas and probably done similar things,” he said. “I think it will send shock waves through the wider community.”
Greta is in the heart of the Hunter Valley wine region, a picturesque region dotted with vineyards and restaurants. It was the first wine region established in Australia. The wedding was in the middle of a long weekend, with Monday being a public holiday in most Australian states.
(with inputs from AP)