By Enyichukwu Enemanna
At least ten wedding guests have been confirmed dead following an auto crash involving a bus they travelled on in the Hunter wine region north of Sydney, Australia, police announced on Monday, saying the 58-year-old driver has been arrested.
The light-coloured bus which conveyed the guests after a wedding late Sunday night according to television images laid on its side following the crash.
A dozen emergency workers wearing high visibility yellow vests arrived the scene to provide assistance to the victims.
Death toll may increase, after 25 of the passengers were rushed to hospital, with two of them airlifted from the scene by helicopter, AFP reported quoting the Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman.
Chapman said the bus still laid by the side with some of the deceased still inside, leaving the possibility that others could be trapped underneath.
Police were not aware of any children being involved, she said.
The coach driver was subjected to mandatory testing at hospital before being held at a police station in nearby Cessnock, the police officer told reporters at the scene.
“He’s under arrest. He’s been the driver of a motor vehicle collision where there have been fatal injuries and there will be charges pending,” she said.
The passengers had been at a wedding together, the officer said, and were presumed to have been heading to their accommodation after the festivities.
No other vehicle appeared to have been involved in the crash, she said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said weddings were among the happiest of times for friends and family.
“For a joyous day like that in a beautiful place to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and sad, and so unfair,” he said in Canberra.
“People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe, and that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy,” the prime minister said.
Albanese sent his wishes for the recovery of those in hospital, and thanks to the emergency workers.
