Port Augusta bus driver killed after struck by his own bus identified

A bus driver who died after being struck by his own vehicle has been remembered as “happy, well liked and kind” by grieving friends who are raising money to repatriate his body to India.

Gagandeep Singh died in an accident in Port Augusta, SA. Picture: GoFundMe

More than $15,000 has been raised to repatriate the body of a Port Augusta man who was killed after the bus he was driving hit him in a car park in the far north town.

Gagandeep Singh was killed on Friday afternoon when the 44-seat Des’s Cabs bus he had been driving struck him after he exited the vehicle.

He later died in hospital.

A Go Fund Me has been launched to raise funds to help return his body to his family in India, with more than $15,500 of a $45,000 target raised since Saturday.

“Together we want to honour Gagandeep’s memory and send him back to his parents and India so they can say their final goodbyes following all the last rituals and traditions,” Port Augusta councillor Sunny Singh wrote on the fundraising page.

Gagandeep Singh died in a crash in Port Augusta on Friday. Picture: Facebook

“However, the financial burden of repatriating his body is a significant challenge for our grieving family.

“Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a meaningful difference and bring us one step closer to reuniting Gagandeep with his grieving parents.”

A vigil for Gagandeep was held on Conroy St, where the incident occurred, on Saturday.

Des’s Cabs executive chairman Chris Brougham said Mr Singh had worked for the company since arriving in Port Augusta in November last year.

“He was happy, he was well liked and he kind of got on with everybody,” Mr Brougham said.

Mr Brougham said he had spoken with Gagandeep’s father in India following the incident.

“No one wants to lose a child,” he said.

The scene of the fatal bus crash at Port Augusta. Picture: NINE NEWS

“We all think our children should be there to bury us not the other way around.

“Gagandeep was the only son so his parents will take that hard.

“He came to Australia to make a new life and he had hopes and dreams for what that future looked like and so did his parents have for him so everyone’s just devastated.”

Mr Brougham said the company was cooperating with SA Police in its investigations into the incident but wasn’t certain what caused the tragedy.

“They’re certainly treating it as an accident,” he said.

“He stopped the bus, parked the bus, he got out of the bus and for some reason the bus rolled forward and collided with him.

“My understanding is that he’d … stopped that bus and that he’d exited it but after that I don’t know.”

Mr Brougham said the company would conduct an internal review into the incident.