SYDNEY, VA – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says it is cruel, sad and unfair that a day of joy in a beautiful place has ended with such a huge loss.
On Sunday evening, the bus was picking up 40-50 wedding guests at the Wandin Estate Winery in the famous Hunter Valley wine region – about a two-hour drive from greater Sydney.
They were on their way to a hotel to spend the night, about a 20-minute drive from the concert venue.
- Just after 23.30 local time, it crashed at a roundabout, and the bus ended up on its side.
- A total of ten people were confirmed dead after the accident. Police said 25 people were injured and taken to hospital.
- Emergency services worked at the scene throughout the night, and are still working to identify the dead.
- The driver, a man in his 50s, has been arrested and police say he will likely be charged.
Tragic circumstances
– He was the bus driver, and we have enough information to be able to say that a fee will be charged. I don’t want to go into detail about this right now,” says Tracy Chapman, acting police chief for Hunter Valley in the Australian state of New South Wales during a press conference early Monday morning local time.
Police are still working to identify everyone on board the bus, and they also don’t rule out finding more dead people in the wreckage, write guardian.
– These are tragic circumstances. The police chief says that the number of family members, but also people in the local community, who will be affected by this, you cannot count.
– Cruel, sad and unfair
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the incident “sad and unfair”.
“For a day of joy to end in such a beautiful place with such heavy loss of life and injury is cruel, sad and unfair,” he tells the press in the nation’s capital, Canberra, he writes. Sydney Morning Herald.
– People rent a bus for their wedding day to keep their guests safe. And this, he adds, makes this tragedy feel incomprehensible.
The winery where the wedding took place says in a statement that it will be closed Monday.
– We are very sorry to hear about the bus accident that took place last night, in which, as they say, some of our guests lost their lives.
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