Gold Coast traffic: Eight injured as bus, jeep collide head-on at Labrador

Police have revealed a shocking find inside a Jeep involved in a horror head-on collision with a bus on the Gold Coast. WATCH THE VIDEO

Police have revealed a shocking find inside a Jeep involved in a horror head-on collision with a bus on the Gold Coast.

Shocking video has captured the horror moment the out-of-control car crashes into a bus, in an incident that left eight people injured.

Police will investigate whether speed was a factor in the head-on collision between a Jeep and the bus on Brisbane Rd at Labrador about 7pm.

CCTV given to The Courier-Mail shows a red car speeding down the wrong side of the road before crashing straight into the front of the bus.

Witnesses told The Courier-Mail they saw one car driving out of control.

Nearby CCTV cameras caught the red Jeep travelling at speed westbound in the eastbound lane on Brisbane Rd near Greencross Vets.

The scene of the crash on Brisbane Rd, Labrador. Picture: Kathleen Skene

Asked whether drug utensils were found in the vehicle, Inspector Scott Knowles said police could not yet say whether drugs or alcohol had been a factor in the crash.

“There is some indications that some drug utensils were located in the vehicle, but again, we can’t say whether the driver was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol at the time,” he said.

“That’s what we’re conducting investigations in relation to.”

The Kinetic bus was carrying about 11 people, six of whom required assessment by paramedics.

One of the bus passengers, a 46-year-old woman, was taken to Gold Coast University Hospital with pelvic and leg injuries.

A 25-year-old Arundel man who police say was driving the Jeep was injured and taken to hospital, along with a 21-year-old passenger.

Other witnesses said they heard the noise from a block away.

“The impact was so loud,” one person said.

A woman who just missed the smash said she came around the corner and saw “people lying everywhere”.

“I don’t know what their injuries were but there were no seatbelts on that bus and people were all over the ground,” she said.

The driver of the Jeep was on Wednesday released from hospital.

However police said it would be some time before their investigations would be finished. No charges have been laid.

Also released from hospital was the passenger of the Jeep and the driver of the bus.

A female bus passenger remains in hospital receiving treatment for fractures to her legs.

“He (the Jeep driver) has not been released into custody,” Inspector Knowles said.

“We know who he is. We’ve got all those particulars.”

Inspector Knowles said police were awaiting the result of blood testing to determine if alcohol or drugs were a factor in the crash.

The scene of the crash on Brisbane Rd, Labrador. Picture: Kathleen Skene

“We’ve done some preliminary testing,” he said. But at this point in time we’ve got to wait for the official tests to come back once the analysis of the blood has occurred, that does take a little bit of time.”

He said a number of witnesses had come forward.

“At this point in time police investigations are focused on looking for witnesses and any dashcam footage that may be available of the red jeep prior to the collision,” he said.

“We’ve had a number of witnesses come forward and explain to us that the vehicle was [allegedly] excessively speeding at the time.

“We are also conducting some inquiries into whether the driver was under the influence of any alcohol or drugs.”

Inspector Knowles confirmed the Jeep involved in the crash was not stolen.

He said the driver had not been formally interviewed by police, who were working to determine the full facts of the incident.

“It depends on the outcome of those investigations.

“We need to conduct some mechanical investigations. It may well have been a mechanical problem with the vehicle.

QAS Senior Operational Supervisor Mitch Ware said it was a “chaotic” scene, with a “large number of bystanders” who had witnessed the incident.

“There were between 50 and 60 people at the scene in addition to all three emergency services,” he said.

“As you can imagine it was quite a confrontational scene that emergency services were met with and in total there were six persons identified as being on-board the bus and a further two people involved in the SUV.”

The bus and Jeep collided on Brisbane Rd, Labrador. Picture: Andreas Nicola

Mr Ware described the crash as “extremely high impact”.

“The people involved are very fortunate that they only have the injuries that they do, had this been a car versus a smaller vehicle I have no doubt that the injuries would have been far greater,” he said.

Jodie Tucker was about to get off the bus when the accident occurred.

“The guy sitting on the chair facing me let out this scream,” she said.

“Then I just saw the front of the bus crumble and this lady in front of me, she just flew through the air.”

She said the bus “lifted” off the ground due to the impact.

“It was really loud but it was the glass – there was just so much glass flying everywhere”.

“It (bus) was filling with smoke and I shouted at everyone to get off but the doors weren’t opening”.

Photos of the aftermath show the front exit of the vehicle crumbled, with the driver’s area narrowly missed.

Ms Tucker said passengers rallied to help the people who were injured, including the woman who was thrown from the impact.

“She was on the ground and hysterical – she was trying to get up but her legs were just broken.

“She was really badly injured. I was trying to calm her but she said ‘I want to get off, I want to get off’ so me and another guy just managed to pick her up.”

The bus driver was also quick to act, radioing through to emergency services before leaving the bus.

“When I got home and had a shower I was just raining glass shards everywhere, it was all in my hair. I just think we are lucky, that could have turned out so much worse,” Ms Tucker said.

The driver of the bus involved in the collision has been praised for the way he cared for passengers in the wake of the crash.

Martin Hall, the Executive General Manager of bus operator Kinetic, said the company had also reached out to the female bus passenger who was injured.

“As we all saw, last night was a horrific incident for everyone involved and I’d like to acknowledge the care and response from our team which continues today,” Mr Hall said.

“The way our driver handled the situation was highly professional, caring for all passengers on board, and this has been acknowledged by some of those passengers.”

“He has been offered our full support in response to this incident and this will continue. Often drivers can experience delayed reactions to events like this.

“Unfortunately, one passenger on board was injured while travelling with us, and we have attempted to make contact with them today to check on their welfare and send our wishes for a swift and full recovery.

“We’ll continue to work with QPS as they investigate the incident in full.”

The Jeep was completely destroyed in the crash. Picture: Andreas Nicola

The aftermath of the horror crash. Picture: Andreas Nicola

The scene of the collision on Brisbane Rd, Labrador (Facebook image)

Originally published as Gold Coast traffic: Eight injured as bus, jeep collide head-on at Labrador