The driver of the bus involved in the deadly Hunter Valley wedding crash has wept as he appeared in court on Tuesday.
Brett Andrew Button, 58, is accused of driving dangerously fast in fog through a roundabout moments before his bus tipped over and crashed into a guard rail near Greta in the NSW Hunter Valley on Sunday night.
“Fasten your seatbelts,” he allegedly told the passengers in the final seconds before Sunday’s horror unfolded.
Nine of the 35 passengers died at the scene, while a 10th died a short time later on the way to hospital.
Police allege the coach was travelling “too quick” when it entered the roundabout, before overturning and hitting a guard rail.
The 58-year-old was supported by family members and sat with his head bowed during a short bail hearing in an overflowing Cessnock Local Court on Tuesday.
Mr Button is expected to face further charges after one of Australia’s worst bus crashes.
Fourteen passengers remained in hospitals across NSW on Tuesday, include two in intensive care. Police said they were aged from their 20s to their 60s.
While passengers’ statements about Mr Button’s “prolonged” unsafe driving before the crash made for a strong prosecution case, magistrate Robyn Richardson agreed his family ties and bail conditions could reduce his risk of fleeing the country or interfering with witnesses.
It was clear Mr Button was suffering along with the rest of the community, which was devastated by the crash, and there were concerns for his wellbeing, she said.
Ms Richardson granted Mr Button bail despite strong police opposition.
Prosecutor Courtney Broome earlier told the court that 10 witnesses had told police about Mr Button’s “prolonged behaviour and dangerous driving, where he said ‘fasten your seatbelts’ “.
He faces 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death and a backup charge alleging negligence.
He could also expect to be charged over the injuries caused to survivors, including those seriously injured, Ms Broom told the court.
The case was adjourned to August 9.
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Victims of Hunter Valley bus tragedy revealed
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Earlier, acting Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said Mr Button was driving “too quick to negotiate that roundabout, causing the vehicle to fall on its side”.
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, he said.
“It’s a traumatic event for all of the family, all of the friends for what was a wedding, where people come from wide and far,” Mr Waddell said.
“It was a very chaotic scene.”
Mr Button was taken to hospital for mandatory testing but had emerged relatively unscathed from the crash.
The damaged bus has been moved to Newcastle for further examination.
Interviews with bus passengers, including the 26 injured, continue.
Some 14 remain in hospitals across the Hunter Valley and Sydney, including two in intensive care at Newcastle’s John Hunter Hospital. Their injuries range from deep cuts to broken bones and prognoses vary.
Police are still working to contact all families of those killed in the crash, who are spread across regional NSW, Melbourne and Queensland. Formal identification of all victims is expected to take days.
Among those unaccounted for who have been named in the media are:
- Singleton mum and daughter Nadene and Kyah McBride;
- Married Singleton couple Andrew and Lynan Scott;
- Byron Bay man Zachary Bray;
- Queenslander Angus Craig;
- Tori Cowburn, Kane Symons, Rebecca Mullen and Darcy Bullman.
The New England Nomads football club posted a tribute to Ms Mullen online on Tuesday.
Hobart’s Carlton Park Surf Life Saving Club issued a statement on behalf of Mr Symons’ family.
“Kane, otherwise known as ‘Superman’, was an amazing athlete who competed at the highest level,” club president Christine Gaby said on Facebook.
Singleton Mayor Sue Moore said she believed most of the victims were from the Hunter Valley town.
“As it grows, you realise the amount of family, friends, relatives and the wider community that will be impacted,” she told the ABC on Tuesday.
NSW 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.
“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.”
Federal Parliament paused to acknowledge the tragedy on Tuesday.
“We know that feeling of getting together with friends and family to celebrate the happy couple. To celebrate the love between two people and their declaration of spending a lifetime together,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
“The hard truth is that mental and emotional scars of this will not fade with time … Australians’ prayers are with you at what is an extraordinarily difficult and traumatic time.”
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the horror crash reinforced the need to never take precious relationships for granted.
“As news of this disaster spread around the nation, I’m sure that for so many Australians their phone calls with family would have felt even more precious. Their embraces with loved ones would have been a little tighter,” he said.
“[We must] value the moments we have with families and with friends … to always cherish those closest to us because life can be unpredictably cruel.”
The crash was a tragic end to the fairytale wedding of Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell, both highly involved members of local AFL club the Singleton Roosters.
– with AAP
