Man charged in relation to bus crash near Hermannsburg

A former mayoral candidate has been charged in relation to a horror bus crash that resulted in the death of a tourist in Central Australia.

PROMINENT tourism expert Patrick Bedford has been arrested and charged in relation to a bus crash which resulted in the death of a tourist.

Bedford was arrested by NT Police on August 3 and charged with two counts of negligently causing serious harm. He was not the driver of the bus.

The 43-year-old, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Alice Springs in 2021, was bailed to appear in Alice Springs Local Court on Thursday.

On June 6, the bus carrying 19 tourists was travelling inbound east of Hermannsburg about 130km from Alice Springs, when it left the road and rolled about 3.30pm.

A 69-year-old man died at the scene. Five passengers were taken to the Alice Springs Hospital with serious injuries, with one placed in intensive care.

Patrick Bedford ran for mayor of Alice Springs last year.

Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner said investigations into the crash were continuing.

“The man charged overnight is an employee of the tour company but not the driver of the bus,” he said.

The scene of the crash near Hermannsburg. Picture: Daniel Sumpton

The bus crashed near Hermannsburg. Picture: Joshua Clements

One man died in the bus crash. Picture: Daniel Sumpton

“Police expect additional charges related to the death of a passenger and other injured passengers to be laid at a later time.”

Bedford is chairman of Tourism Central Australia and managing director of Emu Run Experience, which was set up in 2001 and offers tour packages of the iconic region.

Bedford’s Alice Springs mayoral campaign slogan was “Build a Better Future Together”.

“If you take a look at our CBD, it’s in a bit of a state of disrepair. It’s from a bygone era and it needs to be revitalised and revived,” he said at the time.

According to his LinkedIn profile Bedford has more than 17 years travelling experience, with 14 of those years in the Uluru and Central Australian tourism industry.

“My passion comes from wanting to share my experience of Uluru and Central as a whole with travellers, seeing them arrive with dreams and expectations and leaving with a smile and memories they will never forget for all the right reasons,” his LinkedIn page states.

Originally published as Man charged in relation to bus crash near Hermannsburg