Woman and dog killed after being hit by school bus at pedestrian crossing in Adamstown

A 35-year-old woman and her dog have died after being hit by a school bus, which was carrying 17 students at the time, in the Newcastle suburb of Adamstown.

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It was an extremely traumatic scene at Adamstown on Tuesday afternoon when a woman, 35, and her dog were hit and killed by a school bus full of children.

Several passers-by who witnessed the incident jumped to the woman’s aid and tried to resuscitate her but there was nothing more they could do.

Emergency services were called to the intersection of Brunker and Mandalong roads, shortly before 3.30pm after reports several cars and a school bus carrying 17 students were involved in a major crash.

People rushed to the woman’s aid but she was unable to be resuscitated. Picture: Amy Ziniak

A local resident told The Newcastle News the bus had careered into multiple vehicles after hitting the woman and her dog before it came to a stop.

Inspector Shane Buggy from Newcastle Police said no other people were harmed during the collision, but the woman’s dog is also believed to have died from the crash.

“None of the children are physically injured, but obviously an ordeal like that is quite stressful to those who were close by, to those who witnessed it,” Insp Buggy said.

He said the school had been informed of the incident.

The cause of the incident is not clear at this stage.

“The investigation is very early, we are not prepared to comment on exactly how the accident occurred,” Insp Buggy said.

A 35 year old female has died after being hit by a bus at the intersection of Brunker and Mandalong Roads, Adamstown. Supplied

Joel De’zuna, NSW Ambulance Inspector said six crews including a specialist medical team responded to triple-0 calls.

“A bystander had already commenced CPR prior to paramedics arriving,” he said.

“Paramedics took over the treatment of the woman but despite their best efforts there was nothing further they could do.

“There was about 17 children on the bus at the time, they were assessed at the scene.

“It is an extremely traumatic scene for everybody involved and paramedics did absolutely everything they could to try to save the woman, but there was nothing we could do.”

The red car residents say was hit by the bus, as well as multiple vehicles after it hit and killed a woman and her dog at Adamstown. Picture: Amy Ziniak

Nearby resident Joshua England said he heard a loud bang, like something had fallen off a truck before someone came running in and said a lady had been hit.

“I immediately rushed out. If I could have, I would have helped her,” Mr England said.

“I redirected traffic got them to do U-turns and tried to help, that’s all I could do.”

“I saw a whole heap of people huddled around.

“It’s tragic, you don’t expect that when there is a crossing.”

Mr England said a friend of his was behind the woman when it happened and was one of the passers-by who tried to help resuscitate her.

“He was really distraught.”

Local business owner Don Di Nardo, who has been in the area for 46 years said it’s a bad area for accidents.

“It seems to happen a lot in that area,” he said.

Police are trying to piece together what happened, they’ve gathered CCTV from several nearby businesses and are calling on any witnesses to the fatal crash to come forward.