It is not yet known whether all the passengers on board a bus which crashed, killing 10 people and injuring more than two dozen others, were wearing seatbelts, NSW’s top cop says.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the driver was in the process of being charged on Monday afternoon, but she was unable to confirm what the charges would be at this stage.
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It is understood the coach was carrying 36 guests back to their accommodation in Singleton after the wedding of Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell at Wandin Estate Winery in Lovedale.
The bus rolled on Wine Country Dr near the Hunter Expressway off-ramp at Greta about 11.30pm on Sunday.
Ten people were killed in the crash and 25 others were transported to hospital.
NSW Health said 15 patients remained in their care across four hospitals, as at 2pm on Monday.
One patient is in a critical but stable condition and eight are in a stable condition at John Hunter Hospital, three are stable at Maitland Hospital, one is stable in Calvary Mater Hospital and two are stable at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney.
Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said it is understood some passengers had travelled to the wedding from Victoria, NSW and Queensland, but she would not comment on whether the fatalities were from interstate.
“My understanding at the wedding and indeed on the bus are people from a number of areas, local within the Singleton LGA, but also some from Sydney and perhaps Queensland and Victoria,” she said on Monday afternoon.
Chapman said police have “an understanding” of the number of people unaccounted for and are speaking with family members to identify those involved.
She said it was her understanding there were 36 people on the bus in total, including the driver.
Federal MP Keith Wolahan said Gaffney and Edsell grew up in Warrandyte, in Victoria, where they played for local sporting teams.
“Many of the guests had made the trip to share what should have been the most special of days,” he tweeted.
It is understood some of the wedding attendees were members of the Singleton Roosters Australian Rules football club, where both Gaffney and Edsell reportedly played.
AFL NSW/ACT said it was “shocked and saddened” by the tragedy and was “sending our love to all Singleton Roosters and their loved ones”.
“We send our deepest condolences to all those affected in the accident, including those in the Singleton Roosters family and our Hunter Central Coast community,” it said.
Desperate rescue efforts
The bus has been righted as authorities begin the “delicate operation” to remove the bodies, Webb said.
“As you can imagine, it was a fairly frantic scene,” Chapman added.
Emergency services smashed the windscreen as they tried to reach passengers trapped inside.
“A number of passengers we were able to extract through the front windscreen of the bus and then deal with those in terms of that triage process with NSW Ambulance,” Chapman said.
Webb stressed it would “take time” to determine what happened and would not comment on the suspected cause of the crash.
The 58-year-old driver was taken for mandatory testing, results of which are still pending.
“The most complex part of this job ahead of police now is actually accounting for the victims and passengers on the bus,” Webb said.
Whether passengers were wearing seatbelts on board is one issue to be determined, she said.
“The driver will have to think about that for the rest of his life,” she said.
Community devastated
Wedding guests who had spent the day celebrating were left completely shaken when told of the tragedy.
“It was a nice day, a pretty good wedding … fairy tale stuff really, it was a nice day, and we went to come back and get drunk, and we got the news that there had been a crash, and we all started panicking,” a witness told 7NEWS.
Heartbroken locals laid flowers and shared their condolences at the crash scene.
“We heard the helicopters last night fly by several times … it’s just devastating,” locals told 7NEWS.
“We heard from a friend who worked at Wandin that there was a massive crash … it’s pretty difficult to comprehend.”
The winery issued a statement via social media, saying: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the bus crash overnight that has claimed the lives of some of our guests.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the victims, and we are supporting them in any way we can.”
Chapman said any friends or family of anyone who may have been on the bus should contact Cessnock Police.
“We have family liaison officers who will be assigned to families to work with them and ensure that they have the support and welfare around them that they need,” she said earlier on Monday.
“It’s a tragic set of circumstances. The number of family … but the broader community who will be impacted by this, you couldn’t count.
“From a policing perspective, our role is to make sure that we undertake a full and thorough investigation to ensure that some comfort may be given to the public at the conclusion of that process.”
‘Cruel, sad and unfair’: PM
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked first responders for their efforts.
“Those who arrived at this terrible scene just … I cannot imagine what they were confronted with, what they had to deal with, but they did as they always do, their job,” he said.
Albanese said the thoughts of all Australians went out to the family, friends and loved ones of those who died in “such horrific circumstances”.
“All of us know the joy of going to a wedding … weddings are some of the happiest times you can have,” he said.
“For a joyous day like that to end in such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair.
”People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep the guests safe, and that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy.”
Road closures and diversions remain in place.
Wine Country Drive remains closed between New England Highway and Bridge St, along with northbound and southbound off-ramps from the Hunter Express to Wine Country Drive.
Motorists are urged to avoid the area.
Police are appealing to the public for help to identify the crash victims and contact their next of kin.
Family and friends of anyone who may have been on board the bus are urged to contact Cessnock Police on 02 4991 0199.
Any witnesses to the crash, or anyone who has any information about it, are being urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.