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Tourists hurt: Bus crashes through farm fence on 'lethal' highway

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 31 May 2018, 9:23AM
A bus crashed on to its side on State Highway 94 between Mossburn and Te Anau this morning. (Photo / Otago Regional Helicopter Trust)
A bus crashed on to its side on State Highway 94 between Mossburn and Te Anau this morning. (Photo / Otago Regional Helicopter Trust)

Tourists hurt: Bus crashes through farm fence on 'lethal' highway

Author
Newstalk ZB Staff,
Publish Date
Thu, 31 May 2018, 9:23AM

St John has treated 15 patients, two with serious injuries, after a bus crash on a "lethal" stretch of State Highway 94 between Mossburn and Te Anau this morning.

St John spokesman Gerard Campbell said ambulance crews had treated 15 patients: two with serious injuries, one moderately injured and the rest with minor injuries.

Eleven of the people with minor injuries have been taken to the Fiordland Medical Practice in Te Anau, while two, one with serious injuries and one moderate, were transported to Dunedin Hospital and two more, one with serious injuries and one moderate, to Southland Hospital in Invercargill, he said.

Hamish McClean, who owns the farm where the bus crashed, said the vehicle did a 180- degree turn before rolling and sliding into his fence.

"It's people just not driving to the conditions - I could have put my hat on it that it was going to happen this morning."

McLean said there was another rental car that had also slid off the road this morning about 1km from where the bus crashed.

Today was the third frosty day in a row and today there was a dangerous combination of frost mixed with fog.

"Nine times out of 10 the accidents happen on a straight road when speed becomes a factor."

"The road will closed for a good hour or two I'd say."

McLean praised the rescue helicopter crews that arrived to treat the injured bus passengers, saying they had done an amazing job, However he believed there was a need for local helicopter crews that knew the terrain and could get their faster.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand southern communications acting shift manager Ian Littlejohn said three people had to be cut free from the bus, which had rolled onto its side.

Helicopters from Te Anau and Dunedin went to the crash.

Police said 17 passengers were on the bus, plus a driver and tour guide.

It is understood the passengers were heading to Milford Sound for a cruise.

St John said 11 people had been taken to Te Anau medical centre with minor injuries, two have been flown to Dunedin Hospital and two to Invercargill Hospital but their conditions are unknown. Two seriously injured people are being treated at the scene.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand southern communications acting shift manager Ian Littlejohn said three people had to be cut free from the bus, which had rolled onto its side.

Police said uninjured passengers were waiting at the crash scene for a bus to take them to Te Anau.

Motorists were warned to avoid the area as the highway was closed, and would be for some time.

The bus has rolled onto its side near Te Anau. Image / Google Maps
The bus has rolled onto its side near Te Anau. Image / Google Maps

Police were called at 8.10am to the crash, where the bus was understood to have rolled on its side at the bottom of Gorge Hill near The Key.

The NZ Transport Agency said the crash had closed SH94 near the intersection with Mavora Lanes Rd.

It had earlier warned road users about black ice on the stretch of road.

A woman who runs a nearby holiday home said she had not seen the crash but the highway was icy, especially in shaded areas, and it was also foggy.

''That bloody gorge it's lethal,'' she said of the crash site.

Te Anau chief fire officer Graeme Moffat said Te Anau was blanketed in fog and a black ice warning was in place this morning.

''You generally get black ice around the edge of the fog ... and there's a few shaded spots in the gorge.''

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