Driver hailed a hero amid fatal bus tragedy

A man has been hailed a hero after saving lives with his quick-thinking actions amid yesterday’s devastating north Queensland highway crash.

An elderly driver has been hailed a hero for saving lives after getting caught up in a horror bus crash yesterday afternoon.

The tragedy has left three women dead and 27 more injured after the Greyhound bus they were travelling on crashed into a car towing a caravan.

The coach allegedly veered onto the opposite side of the Bruce Highway at Gumlu, in north Queensland, at around 11am on Sunday.

The Greyhound was travelling between Brisbane and Townsville with 33 people on-board and collided with a caravan being towed by a 4WD. The elderly occupants of the car were miracuously not injured.

The bus driver survived the devastating crash. Picture: Supplied

Witnesses have praised the elderly male driver of the car towing the caravan for swerving his vehicle out of the way of the oncoming bus, which they believe spared the lives of other motorists.

“He was a hero for his actions,” Janice Beavis told the Daily Mail.

“They [the elderly couple] were behaving safely. The bus hit the van, the driver [of the 4WD] was trying to get away.

“He saved himself and his wife and the mum and three girls travelling behind him.”

The devastating crash claimed the lives of 56-year-old Townsville woman, Emma ‘Alli’ Sailor, and two German women aged in their 20s and 30s.

Four people remain in hospital, including two men fighting for their lives, aged 23 and 24, and two other men, aged 27 and 51, who are in stable conditions.

A survivor of the crash told the Courier-Mail that the bus was running behind schedule, leaving Rockhampton at 2am instead of the planned departure time at 12:45am.

Detectives are investigating whether fatigue could have played a role in the deadly collision.

Police Superintendent Graeme Paine said there was “significant impact” between the 4WD travelling southbound and the bus travelling northbound on the 100km/h stretch of road, resulting in “very significant consequences”.

Three passengers on the bus were killed. Picture: Supplied

“We haven’t determined any factors that have contributed to the crash at this stage, but certainly a crash of this nature, involving this many people, is a very significant, very tragic incident for us,” he said at a press conference on Sunday.

He added that the impact of the crash would reach well beyond those directly involved.

“A crash like this is very, very confronting,” he said.

“The first responders and the community members on scene at the time have done a very significant job in trying to help those who are injured and safeguard the scene.”

Anyone who may have seen the crash or have dashcam footage is urged to contact police.

It is currently Queensland school holidays with many more cars on the road.

Greyhound Australia CEO Dan Smith said the company was “heartbroken” over the crash.

“This is a tragic incident and our deepest sympathies go out to those involved and their families and friends,” he said.

“We are working closely with authorities to assist them with their investigation in understanding the course of events that have led to this accident.

“We are also providing support to members of our team impacted by this tragedy.

“We will provide further updates as more information becomes available and ask that you respect the privacy of those involved at this extremely difficult time.”

Passengers comfort one another after the horror bus crash. Picture: 7 News.

The crash caused huge traffic delays. Picture: NewsWire / Scott Radford-Chisholm

On Monday morning, Queensland Police Superintendent Paine said more witnesses will be interviewed as they work to determine the cause of the crash.

“We’ve collected a significant amount of evidence from the scene,” he said.

“As we process that evidence and interview further witnesses, we anticipate getting a clearer picture of exactly how it occurred.

“I also want to acknowledge the role that the members of the public on the scene played in assisting and treating some of those injured people.

“It was a very significant and very confronting incident.

“With any incident like this, the initial response is very chaotic and very complex. Being in a situation like this is incredibly challenging.”

Shocking pictures from the aftermath of the crash appear to show the cabin of the caravan embedded into the front of the bus, which had been pushed onto nearby train tracks.

The speed limit at the section of the highway where the crash had occurred was 100km/hour.

The Bruce Highway 1,670km long and stretches from Brisbane to Cairns.

The road has been plagued with safety concerns for years and between 2020 to 2023, 134 lost their lives on the highway.

From January to April 2024, nine people have been killed.