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The Queensland Ambulance Service has confirmed a woman who was being treated at the scene of a serious bus crash in the Brisbane CBD could not be saved.
An ambulance spokesman confirmed an earlier report from Brisbane City Council that the woman, who suffered critical injuries in the crash, had died at the scene.
Other injured pedestrians and passengers were taken to hospital.
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The incident occurred on the corner of Edward Street and Ann Street at 5.06pm, with both streets closed. (9News)Credit: Nine News
Biden delivering his fiery State of the Union address.Credit: AP
A woman was killed when a bus mounted the kerb on Edward Street at peak hour, a Brisbane City Council spokesman said.
The driver of the bus is believed to have suffered a medical episode before crashing into pedestrians outside the ANZAC Square Arcade, near Central train station.
Firefighters used tarps to shield people from the confronting scene on Edward Street.Credit: Tony Moore
Several pedestrians were injured, with at least one pinned by the bus. The Queensland Ambulance Service had earlier confirmed a critically injured pedestrian was being assessed at the scene.
Nine passengers on the bus were also assessed by ambulance officers and five were transported to hospital with minor injuries.
A bus driver is believed to have had a medical episode before crashing into pedestrians at peak hour near Central train station in the CBD.
A Brisbane City Council spokesman said it appeared the bus lost control and mounted the kerb on Edward Street, just down from the Ann Street intersection, at around 5pm on Friday.
One person, believed to be a female pedestrian, was pinned between the bus and the ANZAC Square Arcade building on Edward Street. Paramedics were attending to the patient at the scene and their injuries were understood to be life-threatening.
Other pedestrians were also injured in the incident. The condition of the bus driver was not immediately known.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner said the crash was “a truly devastating incident”.
“Hearing this news has absolutely shocked me and I’m sure the entire Brisbane community will be feeling this tonight,” he said.
“None of us going about our daily lives ever expect anything like this.
“While we do not yet know the exact circumstances of what has happened, Council will be working with Queensland Police Service who will investigate this heart-breaking incident.”
A person has been critically injured after being pinned between a bus and a building in Brisbane’s CBD.
Nine Queensland Ambulance Service units were sent to Edward Street just after 5pm on Friday after a bus mounted the kerb at peak hour, not far from Central station.
A bus mounted the footpath on Edward Street in the Brisbane CBD at peak hour, leaving several people injured.Credit: Rosanna Ryan
Multiple patients were being assessed at the scene. Paramedics were seen attending to the critically injured patient behind a privacy screen.
Police closed that section of Edward Street to traffic and pedestrians.
A man who was caught with dozens of child sexual abuse videos on his phone after flying to Australia has been spared jail but could face deportation.
Nischal Singh Thakuri, 25, faced Brisbane District Court on Friday and pleaded guilty to one count of intentionally importing prohibited goods in the form of child exploitation material.
Thakuri arrived at Brisbane Airport on March 21, 2023 via a flight from Singapore after visiting family in Nepal.
The crown prosecutor said Thakuri was identified by the Border Force for a bag check and co-operated with officers who then asked him to unlock his Samsung Galaxy smartphone and open an encrypted folder within the device.
He was found in possession of 73 videos, 51 of which featured a child under 13 involved in or witnessing a sexual act.
The prosecutor said Thakuri told officers he knew the videos were of child exploitation material and that he had downloaded 150 to 200 videos in the months before he arrived in Australia.
She said Thakuri should be given a custodial sentence as the videos were classified among the worst kind seen by police.
“The gravity of the sexual activity depicted was particularly serious ... female children aged six to 16 and some videos involving adults,” she said.
Defence barrister Jack Kennedy said Thakuri had co-operated with Border Force and police, and entered an early guilty plea.
Judge Nathan Jarro said Thakuri had committed a serious offence but also expressed regret.
“These are not victimless crimes. By viewing this material you are supporting a depraved market where real children are being abused,” he said.
Thakuri was sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment to be released immediately with probation for two years and a $2000 good behaviour bond for three years.
An unprecedented fifth mass coral bleaching event in just eight years is rolling across the Great Barrier Reef, the result of yet another marine heatwave, in another sign of the deteriorating forecasts for Australia’s marine wonder under global warming.
The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority said aerial surveys that two thirds of the reefs that comprise the 2300 kilometre-long ecosystem along the Queensland coast showed signs of bleaching, as a result of a marine heatwave.
“Climate change is the greatest threat to the Great Barrier Reef, and coral reefs globally,” the authority’s chief scientist Dr Roger Beeden said.
“The results are consistent with what we have seen with above-average sea surface temperatures across the (reef) for an extended period of time.”
The current bleaching event follows similar reports from reefs around the world during the past 12 months. Northern Hemisphere coral reefs have suffered coral bleaching as a result of climate change-driven elevated ocean temperatures, amplified by El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said bleaching in the Northern Hemisphere, combined with the likelihood of widespread bleaching in the Southern Hemisphere, put the world on the precipice of a global bleaching event.
“It’s looking like the entirety of the Southern Hemisphere is probably going to bleach this year,” said ecologist Derek Manzello, the co-ordinator of NOAA’s Coral Reef Watch.
“We are literally sitting on the cusp of the worst bleaching event in the history of the planet.”
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner will open the new Everton Park library on Saturday and has invited locals to “enjoy this investment in your community” – a week ahead of the council election.
Writing directly to local voters on his official letterhead, and without any campaign authorisation statement, Schrinner said the local LNP councillor, Tracy Davis, would also attend the opening.
Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner will open the new Everton Park library a week out from the Brisbane City Council election.
“The new library is more than double the size of the former library, complete with community meeting rooms, a computer lounge, Wi-Fi and ample seating,” Schrinner said.
The Labor opposition has long accused Schrinner and the LNP administration of using ratepayer funds for political promotions.
The new library was originally tipped to cost $11.6 million but Schrinner somehow banked $750,000 in savings as part of budget cuts announced in November.
While other projects have suffered blowouts, a council spokeswoman said the scope of the library works had not changed.
The Foyer Foundation is calling on the federal government to fund 10 new youth foyers across Australia to house and support more than 3000 young Australians at risk of, or experiencing, homelessness over the next decade.
Youth Foyers are designed for people aged 15 to 24, and offer independent living with on-site support.
In February, the Queensland government announced it would build eight new youth foyers across the state under the Homes for Queensland plan.
FoyerInvest, a consortium of 13 community organisations backing the federal push for funding, has proposed two Queensland locations in the budget submission: Caboolture and Mango Hill.
The 2021 Census found there were 316 people aged 12 to 24 experiencing homelessness in Moreton Bay, a figure that is likely to have grown in the years since.
The proposed site of the Mango Hill foyer is co-located with The Y senior secondary vocational school, offering young people secure housing, and wraparound education and employment.
Further north, the proposed Caboolture foyer would leverage support already available at Caboolture TAFE, including childcare, transport and connection to additional student supports.
Papua New Guinea captain Kyle Laybutt backs the creation of a home-based NRL side and wants Wayne Bennett to be the inaugural coach.
The 28-year-old led the Kumuls to the Pacific Cup title on the international stage last year.
Laybutt welcomed recent comments by ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys that basing a PNG NRL side in Port Moresby rather than the north of Queensland was the best way forward.
Wayne Bennett wants a change to the NRL’s contracting system.Credit: Getty
The ARLC is investigating NRL expansion with PNG and Perth among leading contenders.
Bennett, off contract at the Dolphins as head coach at the end of 2024, supports a Perth bid and has said the PNG option would work if done right.
V’landys was a prime mover behind Bennett coaching the Dolphins in their inaugural season in 2023 and Laybutt said the master coach would make for an ideal inaugural mentor.
“It would be beneficial to have someone with the experience and knowledge of Wayne Bennett as coach so if he gets the opportunity and wants it then absolutely I would support that,” Laybutt said.
“Wayne’s record speaks for itself.”
Laybutt , who has played two NRL games for North Queensland, will captain the Townsville Blackhawks in the statewide Hostplus Cup this year.
The Blackhawks are an affiliate club of South Sydney.