A man from Maitland has been charged and refused bail to face court tomorrow over a bus crash that killed ten people at Greta.
Just after 11:30pm yesterday, emergency services were called to the roundabout on Wine Country Drive near the Hunter Expressway off ramp and when they arrived were confronted with a bus that had rolled onto its side in the fog with multiple people on board.
The bus was traveling back to Singleton from a wedding at Wandin Estate in the Hunter Valley.
A large-scale emergency response commenced involving officers from Hunter Valley Police District, Police Rescue, Traffic and Highway Patrol, NSW Ambulance paramedics, NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW Rural Fire Service, and various helicopters for hospital transports.
Inquiries indicate 36 people were on the bus at the time with 10 passengers declared deceased and 25 passengers transported to hospital via helicopter and road. Many of those 25 people have suffered various injuries.
A crime scene was established which is being examined by specialist forensic police and officers from the Crash Investigation Unit.
The 58-year-old male driver of the bus was taken to hospital under police guard for mandatory testing and assessment.
He was later transferred to Cessnock Police Station where he was charged with ten counts of dangerous driving occasioning death – drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving (occasioning death).
The Maitland man was refused bail to appear at Cessnock Local Court tomorrow.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the crash are ongoing.
It is understood that a number of people on the bus were from the Singleton area and part of the Singleton Roosters AFL team.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman, also the Northern Region Commander said there were locals involved.
“It’s my understanding that at the wedding and indeed on the bus are people from a number of areas both local within the Singleton LGA, but also from Sydney, Queensland and Victoria but I could not provide any more detail at this time.
“I think without question it was very difficult circumstances for everyone involved.
“So we’re certainly working on a list that we believe to be accurate at this point in time and we are talking to family members of those people we believed were on the bus, both those who managed to survive and those who unfortunately died at the scene.
“We certainly have an understanding of those who are unaccounted for and we’re working towards positively identifying those ten deceased with family members but it will take some time.
“It is really important for us to make sure that we maintain appropriate processes, have a good structure in place around DVI, what we call Disaster Victim Verification, appropriate processes have to be followed so that we can make sure we’re talking to the right family members and that family members are getting the right information.”
There are still road closures in place with the roundabout completely closed off to traffic with diversions in place.
Anyone who needs information on loved ones is urged to contact Cessnock Police Station on 4991 0199 and anyone with information on the crash itself should contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000