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“The best of the best. You will forever be our favourite,” one tribute read.
All 35 passengers who boarded the bus from the wedding of Maddy Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney at Wandin Estate winery in Lovedale late on Sunday were aged between their 20s and 60s.
NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said the guests had travelled from “far and wide”, and included locals and those from interstate.
Nine were killed at the scene when the Linq Buslines coach overturned at the Wine Country Drive roundabout, near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp, about 11.30pm. A 10th person died in hospital.
Mullen was based at Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle after graduating from university in 2021.
“Rebecca has been a highly valued member of our team for just over 12 months,” the health district’s acting chief executive, Susan Heyman, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Parents Andrew and Lynan Scott are also presumed dead.Credit: Facebook
“To have one of our own unaccounted for in these circumstances is a tragedy that is felt by us all.
“Our priority right now is providing support to Rebecca’s family and colleagues at this incredibly difficult time.”
Some of those injured in the bus crash were taken to the Mater as part of the emergency response. As of 6pm on Tuesday, nine patients remained in the John Hunter Hospital, two in Maitland Hospital and two in Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW Health said. All were in stable condition. One patient had been discharged from the Mater hospital.
Waddell said on Tuesday morning police could not formally confirm the identities of the 10 victims.
“We will work through that disaster victim identification process over the next few days,” he said, adding investigators and police liaison officers were speaking to the families and the survivors.
Kyah McBride was selected for the AFLW Summer Series.Credit: Hunter River Times newspaper
The Sydney Swans AFL team said players would wear black armbands this weekend in memory of those who had died, noting many were connected to the Singleton Roosters Australian rules club.
The family of former Singleton senior president Nadene McBride and her 22-year-old daughter Kyah McBride, who was selected to represent the Swans in the women’s Summer Series last year, said in a statement through police on Tuesday afternoon there were “no words to describe the grief” they were feeling.
Many of those in mourning have made their Facebook profile image the club’s red and white crest.
The Roosters club committee, on a page set up to raise money for families affected by the “horrific event”, sent love to “all who are suffering”.
Andrew Scott, a physiotherapist, and Lynan Scott, who worked for coal mining company Yancoal Australia, also played for the Singleton club. The married couple, who are parents of young children, are also presumed dead.
The Roosters posted a video of Andrew, who was known as Chisel, celebrating his 100th club game in April 2022, on the shoulders of Gaffney, the groom in Sunday’s wedding.
Zach Bray was training for his commercial helicopter licence.Credit: Facebook
Brisbane-based engineer Angus Craig, who also worked for Yancoal before starting with BHP, according to his LinkedIn, Australian rules coach and Singleton local Tori Cowburn, bowel cancer survivor Zach Bray, and Tasmanian surf life-saver Kane Symons are among those also being remembered.
Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff said he was “utterly devastated” to hear the news.
“Kane Symons was a champion surf-lifesaver, taken from us far, far too soon,” Rockliff said.
In Melbourne, a spokesman for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission confirmed its investigator Darcy Bulman was involved in the incident.
Bulman was remembered as a “capable professional” and wonderful colleague, and counselling was being arranged for her workmates.
Hunter New England Health said its priority was providing support to those affected, including the Singleton and Cessnock communities, “as they deal with the aftermath”.
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Crisis centres opened on Tuesday at Branxton Community Hall and Singleton Youth Venue for those seeking mental health support or comfort.
“We are proud of our tight-knit community, and a tragedy like this will touch everyone in some way,” Singleton Council said. “It’s impossible to measure just how sad this news is for everyone.”
With Olivia Ireland
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