Elderly driver saves lives of young family seconds before bus and caravan collide on Bruce Highway

The quick-thinking actions of an elderly driver have been praised after a horrific bus crash in North Queensland, as more details are revealed about the heroes who stopped to help the injured.

The quick-thinking actions of an elderly driver have been praised after a horrific bus crash in North Queensland, as more details are revealed about the heroes who stopped to help the injured.

The 83-year-old driver of a car towing a caravan was lucky to escape death after a Greyhound bus allegedly crossed on to the wrong side of the Bruce Highway near Gumlu, south of Townsville, last Sunday.

The Victorian man miraculously swerved his four-wheel drive out of the path of the bus and his caravan took the hit, becoming lodged in the cabin of the bus.

Three women on the bus were killed, and multiple people were seriously injured.

A driver who witnessed the ordeal said the 83-year-old man’s quick reaction saved the lives of a mother and her children driving behind him and he “deserved a medal”.

“He was sensational with his reaction (to the crash),” the witness said.

“My husband saw a little bit of debris flying … I looked up and saw the bus … and then we worked out the car was there with everything scattered down the road.

“We got out and started trying to help any which way we could.

“We didn’t go anywhere near the bus, my focus was more the elderly couple, making sure they were OK and helping them with anything they needed.”

The Greyhound bus was extensively damaged.

She said the trauma bears the elderly female passenger had been knitting were strewn across the road in the aftermath of the crash.

Friends of the couple said they were shaken but were doing OK.

“They have lost everything as the caravan was demolished … no clothes, no medication,” they said.

“But they are grateful they are alive, as we are.”

A Townsville grandmother, 56, and two German tourists, 21 and 33, were killed in the crash.

They were travelling to Townsville on the Greyhound bus which departed Brisbane on June 29 at midday. It was expected to arrive in Townsville at 12.10pm on June 30.

The bus had made multiple routine rest stops along the way, and was on the last leg of the journey when the crash occurred.

Police will allege the bus travelled on to the wrong side of the Bruce Highway and into the oncoming traffic.

The impact of the collision caused the caravan to detach from the car and become lodged inside the bus.

Those sitting behind the driver’s seat were exposed to the brunt of the collision.

The bus then left the road and travelled down an embankment before eventually coming to a stop on train tracks several metres away from the highway.

American teacher Piezy Marie was aboard the Greyhound bus when it crashed, killing three people in the next row. (Facebook image)

A number of other people were also badly injured and tended to by a group of brave drivers who stopped to help while waiting for paramedics.

Among those were two nurses on their way to Cairns and three Australian Defence Force soldiers from 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment.

Lance Corporal Kai Watson, Private Luke Harrop-Wells and Private Ryan Breise – who are based in Townsville – stayed with injured passengers and kept them calm, as well as helping paramedics where they could.

Nurse Mark Thomas, who was on a camping holiday with wife Cassandra, said that the bus crash scene was traumatic.

“I’ve seen lots of horrible things … over the years in the RFS (Rural Fire Service) and as a nurse but the carnage on that bus is something I’ll never forget,” he wrote on social media.

Townsville Chief Inspector Roger Whyte, who was the Region District Officer on Sunday, said the scene was “very confronting”.

“It was carnage, a very traumatic scene,” Inspector Whyte said.

More than 20 police from Townsville and Mackay attended, as well as multiple paramedics and two helicopters to transport patients to hospital.

Inspector Whyte applauded the mammoth job done by all agencies.

A patient is airlifted to Ayr Hospital after the crash. Picture: Scott Radford-Chisholm/NCA NewsWire

“It was an outstanding performance from all emergency services personnel in a difficult situation.”

The bus driver, a 51-year-old man, suffered some minor ­injuries.

He was initially treated for shock but has since been released from hospital.

Police are investigating whether fatigue was a factor in the crash.

No charges have been laid.

Police have appealed for anyone with dashcam or information of the crash to come forward.

Californian teacher Piezy Marie, whose last-minute seat swap meant she escaped serious injury, has finally arrived home after four sleepless nights of travelling.

“I have received an outpouring of messages from the local people, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends of the passengers who didn’t survive the crash,” she said.

“I even receive messages from active and retired Greyhound bus drivers, policemen and firemen.”

Ms Marie said she could see “no rationale” behind the “horrifying” crash that claimed three lives.

“I want to thank the policemen, firemen, the paramedics and the regular people who came to our rescue,” she said.

“Jenny and David who shared their caravan to us as our shelter, there was a Spanish family from Madrid who were also in a caravan who loaned us chairs and gave us fruit. As an outsider of this country, I have never felt so connected to the people.”

Personal effects are strewn on the ground in the aftermath of the bus crash. Picture: Leighton Smith

Originally published as Elderly driver saves lives of young family seconds before bus and caravan collide on Bruce Highway