Driver charged after bus carrying wedding guests rolls over, killing 10

The driver of a bus has been charged after the vehicle carrying wedding guests rolled over on a foggy night in Australia’s wine country, killing 10 people and injuring 25 others.

The crash happened just after 11.30pm on Sunday (2.30pm BST) at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales state, north of Sydney.

It was Australia’s deadliest road accident since 1994, when a bus skidded on its side across a major road and down a steep embankment in Brisbane, killing 12 people and injuring 38.

The guests had attended a wedding at the Wandin Estate Winery and were heading to their accommodations in the town of Singleton, police said.

“The fog was terrible,” she told the ABC. “You could barely see in front of you.”

Of the 25 people injured, one is in a critical condition and several others remain in hospital, the state government said. The conditions of the others were described as stable.

Police Commissioner Karen Webb said investigators have not yet determined what caused the bus to roll onto its side.

Whether passengers were wearing seatbelts will also “come under scrutiny”, Ms Webb said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked first responders and offered government support to victims and their families, saying the “mental scars of this will not go away”.

“For a joyous day like that, in a beautiful place, to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair,” Mr Albanese told reporters.

“People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe. And that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy,” he said.

Jay Suvaal, the mayor of Cessnock, said the crash was “truly horrific”.