Bacchus Marsh bus crash: Little’s Coaches staff heroic efforts revealed

Details have emerged of the incredible relief efforts provided by the driver and coach operator involved in the horror Bacchus Marsh school bus crash.

A school bus carrying 32 people has flipped on the Western Highway in Bacchus Marsh on September 21 at 3.15am. Picture: Brendan Beckett

A bus company owner dropped everything in the middle of night to rescue injured students and teachers and take them to hospital after the horror Bacchus Marsh bus crash.

And it’s been revealed that if the bus involved hadn’t been a modern model, the incident, which injured 33 people, including 27 students, could have been much worse.

Seventeen people from Loreto College Ballarat remain in hospital as of Friday, after the bus collided with a B-double truck on the Western Highway near Condons Lane about 3.15am on September 21.

Bus Association Victoria director Chris Lowe, speaking on behalf of Little’s Coaches, said director Ben Amor rushed to the company’s depot and drove a spare coach to the crash scene.

Mr Lowe said Mr Amor then helped 11 injured students and some adults on board, and took them to the Ballarat Base Hospital for treatment.

“He helped out at the site on his own free will, because there weren’t enough ambulances at that time to get everyone to hospital,” Mr Lowe said.

“I’m not surprised the outcome wasn’t any worse than what it was, because I know the care and professionalism they (Little’s) put into running a safe transport business.

“They take the safe carriage of their customers extremely seriously.”

Mr Lowe said safety features on the 2015-model bus helped prevent the crash from becoming a potentially deadly disaster.

“If that coach was not seatbelted with all the latest safety features, the circumstances could have been a whole lot worse,” Mr Lowe said.

Mr Lowe said bus driver Wayne Orr, 56, was recovering at home after being treated at The Austin hospital for shock and a sore leg.

He said Mr Orr would receive counselling following the traumatic event, where he went above and beyond to assist injured passengers and emergency services staff.

“He probably doesn’t consider himself a hero, but he is, because he managed to get himself and more than 30 people off that coach, and that’s a driver’s primary responsibility, the people on board.

“Most of them (bus drivers) know the passengers they carry from regional and rural areas and he has a huge sense of community responsibility.”

Victoria Police did not have any further updates on Wednesday morning’s crash, including if the truck driver, a man in his 50s, would be charged.

Mr Lowe said Little’s staff were “obviously” concerned about the truck driver’s wellbeing after he suffered serious injuries in the crash.