A bus driver was allegedly driving too fast through a roundabout moments before the vehicle careered into a guard rail, killing 10 people and injuring dozens more.
The bus was returning guests from a wedding reception at Wandin Estate winery in Lovedale to Singleton, about 20 minutes away.
Brett Button, 58, will face a country court on Tuesday on 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death after Sunday evening’s crash in the NSW Hunter Valley devastated families across three states.
Acting Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said police believed Button was “driving in a manner that was inconsistent with the conditions”.
“Obviously, the speed was too quick to negotiate that roundabout, causing the vehicle to fall on its side,” he told reporters.
The guard rail on Wine Country Drive near Greta was a major factor in the severity of the crash, and the scene was very confronting for first responders, Mr Waddell said.
“It was a very chaotic scene,” he said.
Button was taken to hospital for mandatory testing but was released into police custody, where he remained ahead of his court appearance.
Some 14 people crash victims remain in hospitals across the Hunter Valley and Sydney, including two in intensive care at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital.
The group’s injuries range from deep cuts to broken bones, and prognoses vary.
Police were still working to contact all families of those killed in the crash, who are spread across regional NSW, Melbourne and Queensland.
The victims are aged from their 20s to their 60s.
Premier Chris Minns said trauma counselling centres would open in Singleton and Branxton to help anyone affected by the tragedy.
“It’s available for the community to come and get trauma counselling and speak to health professionals if they need to,” he told Nine’s Today program.
“Everybody in the state has been really traumatised by these terrible events,” he said.
“It’s the government’s responsibility and the local council’s responsibility to be there for them not just in the immediate glare of the accident but in the weeks and months to come.”
Acting Assistant Police Commissioner Tracy Chapman on Monday said emergency responders smashed the front windscreen of the bus in order to pull people from the wreckage.
The crash was a tragic end to the fairytale wedding of Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell, both highly involved members of the local AFL club, the Singleton Roosters.
The Warrandyte Cricket Club in Victoria, where Mr Gaffney previously lived, said a number of its members were involved in the crash.
Police have begun taking witness statements from survivors.
“They’re providing a version of, or witness statement in terms of what they experienced, and that will assist us with our inquiries and furthering that investigation,” Ms Chapman said.
Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the use of seatbelts would be one of the matters looked at by the coroner.
“Whether they were actually wearing seatbelts or not … certainly all of that will come under scrutiny,” she said.
“Again, that will be a matter the coroner will have a look, and ultimately the driver will have to think about that for the rest of his life.”
