A truck driver is on bail as several children await surgeries for life-altering injuries sustained in a bus crash in Melbourne’s west.
Police are investigating whether 49-year-old Jamie Gleeson, from Balliang East, was distracted before the truck he was driving collided with a bus carrying 46 children from Exford Primary School at nearby Eynesbury on May 16.
Prosecutors did not oppose his application for bail at Melbourne Magistrates Court on May 17.
A spokesperson for the truck operator, L & J Cartage, said the crash was heartbreaking.
“Our hearts go out to everyone involved, especially the children and their families,” the family-owned transport company said on May 16.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened at what has happened.”
Investigators are trying to piece together what caused the collision, with Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse flagging inattention was one line of inquiry.
“If people are listening to me at home, please speak to other road users ... and remind them of the dangers,” he said on May 17.
“Some of the injuries are truly life-changing, and this incident was avoidable, as (are) so many of the collisions that police and other emergency services attend to.”
Eighteen children were taken to the Royal Children’s and Sunshine hospitals after the crash, with seven seriously injured.
The Royal Children’s Hospital received nine patients aged five to 11, including two who were discharged after treatment at the emergency department.
As of May 18, seven patients remained in the hospital, including one in intensive care, and all are in stable condition.
The children sustained multiple traumatic injuries ranging from partial to complete amputations, crushed limbs and severe lacerations to their heads and bodies.
Two were due to go into surgery on the afternoon of May 17. Four of the more seriously injured will require further surgeries.
Several students were trapped inside the tipped-over bus before witnesses and emergency workers pulled them free, triaging them at the scene.
Tradesman Dean Eastway, who helped free some of the children, described finding students screaming and pinned down.
“It’s worse today, hearing about all the injuries,” he told Nine News.
Supt Cruse said passers-by who stopped to help were heroic and their actions potentially prevented further injuries.
“At the time that the bus overturned, I understand that there was diesel leaking from the bus,” he said.
“That would be a difficult scene for a passerby to come across and then to have acted the way they did is really admirable.”
Gleeson, a truck driver for 18 years, has been charged with four counts of dangerous driving causing serious injury.
The school has set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the injured children’s rehabilitation on May 17 and has raised nearly $10,000 so far.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
