At least three women are dead after a Greyhound bus carrying 33 people collided with a four-wheel drive towing a caravan on the Bruce Highway in north Queensland.
The crash occurred on a stretch of the Bruce Highway near the town of Gumlu, north of Bowen, around 11am Sunday morning.
Queensland Police Superintendent Graeme Paine said the car was travelling south and the bus was driving north, believed to be en route to Townsville. All the fatalities and injured passengers were on board the bus, he said.
Describing the crash as a “very significant incident,”Superintendent Paine said one person had been airlifted from the scene.
It’s not clear what caused the accident, and no contributing factors have yet been determined, he added.
Images from the scene show a badly damaged bus with a crushed front cabin on the highway, surrounded by police officers and ambulance workers.
Paramedics assessed 27 people at the scene — of those, seven had life-threatening injuries, according to Queensland Ambulance.
They’ve been taken to Townsville University Hospital and Ayr Health Service emergency departments.
Members of the community have been asked to stay away from the hospital as staff treat the injured, unless their matter is serious.
“Staff at both hospitals are currently busy managing patients from the crash,” the Townsville Hospital and Health Service said in a social media post.
Bruce Highway closed in both directions
The ABC believes the Greyhound bus departed Brisbane at 12:30pm on Saturday and was expected to arrive in Townsville at 12:10pm on Sunday.
The Bruce Highway has been closed in both directions, causing serious delays, according to Queensland Ambulance.
Delays have also hit the Queensland Rail service due to the proximity of the crash to rail lines.
Live updates, reactions and contributions from ABC readers.
Police urging caution on the roads
Superintendent Paine is urging travellers to “please plan your journey”.
“And please take the opportunity to be aware and cognisant of all those things so you can arrive at your destination safely.”
This is where we’ll leave today’s live coverage.
Superintendent Paine doesn’t have a reopening date for the Bruce Highway yet.
He says it will be closed for “as long as we need “.
“We’ll certainly open it at the first chance we can get,” he says.
“We understand the impact that it has on those people using the road, both in a personal capacity and a commercial capacity.”
Superintendent Paine says the investigation is in its early stages.
“We have a number of specialists on scene that will work through the incident scene,” he says.
“They’ll forensically process the evidence and then we’ll look at that.”
He also implored anyone with dashcam footage or information to come forward.
There’s limited information on where the bus carrying 33 people had travelled from.
Superintendent Paine says it was “headed to Townsville”.
“I don’t know if that was the final destination,” he adds.
Superintendent Paine says during the June holiday period, there is traditionally “a significant volume of traffic on the road”.
“I really want to remind people to, to take the opportunity to plan your trip, to allow more time to really be aware of those key factors that impact driving behaviour and really try and make sure that you take steps to ensure that you can arrive at your (destination) safely.”
Superintendent Paine says police will connect those confronted by the crash to referral services.
“I just want to take the opportunity to say that if anyone needs any help or needs any assistance trying to deal with an incident that is this significant, please reach out,” he says.
“The impacts from this will be felt right throughout the community.”
Superintendent Paine says he’s not aware of any injuries to those driving the 4WD towing the caravan.
“The three deceased and those injured, as I’m advised, were all from the bus,” he says.
“I don’t have any details on the bus driver at this stage.”
Superintendent Paine adds the crash has impacted the nearby rail line.
“So there are significant delays in relation to the train activity in the area,” he says.
“For those people that may be using the rail, please take this into consideration in relation to your travel.”
Superintendent Paine says the crash site was “very confronting” for the first responders to the scene.
“The first responders and the community members on scene at the time have done a very significant job in trying to help those who are injured and safeguard the scene,” he says.
Superintendent Paine says police haven’t determined any factors that contributed to the crash at this stage.
“Certainly a crash of this nature involving this many people is a very significant and very tragic incident for us,” he adds.
The Bruce Highway also remains closed in both directions, with signficant delays.
A Queensland Rail spokeswoman said the North Coast line between Bobawaba and Gumlu will remain closed for emergency services to respond to the crash.
The northbound Spirit of Queensland is being held at Proserpine and the southbound Spirit of Queensland is being held at Townsville.
Superintendent Paine said school holidays are a busy time on Queensland roads, and has urged people to take steps to arrive at their destination safely.
Gumlu Tavern owners Toni and Colin Dale said they have opened their business early to give stranded travellers a place to get some water and use the bathroom.
