"More than we can bear": Hunter Valley bus crash victims identified
The names of the 10 people who lost their lives in the Hunter Valley wedding bus tragedy have been made public, just two days after the devastating incident occurred.
And while their heartbroken families have been informed by police officials that formal identifications could take anywhere from days up to weeks, The Daily Telegraph have reported that 10 people could not be accounted for in the wake of the crash.
36 people were on board the coach bound for Singleton, 35 wedding guests - and the bus driver - who had just spent the day celebrating the love and nuptials of local sporting enthusiasts Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell at Wandin Valley Estate.
The group were onboard in foggy conditions at around 11:30 pm, before the bus rolled roughly 17 minutes into their evening journey, at a roundabout at Wine Country Drive.
Emergency services raced to the scene, and while 25 people were pulled from the wreckage and rushed for treatment with injuries varying from the likes of critical head and neck trauma to broken bones, 10 people could not be saved.
As reported by The Daily Telegraph, those 10 victims included locals and interstate visitors, all near and dear to the young bride and groom and the rest of their guests.
From Singleton were husband and wife Andrew and Lynan Scott, as well as Tori Cowburn and Rebecca Mullen. Mother and daughter Nadene and Kyah McBride were also from the area. Zachary Bray had travelled from Byron Bay for the big day, while Darcy Bulman had come from Sydney, and Angus Craig had made the trip from Queensland.
And like the others, the 10th fatality - Kyah’s partner Kane Symons - remains unaccounted for.
And as NSW Premier Chris Minns warned while speaking to the media the day after the crash, things may get harder in the weeks to come.
“The state woke up this morning to hear devastating news in an area that we normally associate with so much happiness and joy. Whatever the final toll is in this accident, it will be more than we can bear,” he said.
“The next few days and weeks may be worse than the initial shock, as it fully comes to realisation of what this community has gone through.”
However, as NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner David Waddell said, “I see there’s some speculation about the identity of those 10 persons - we cannot confirm the identity of those 10 victims.
“We’ll work through the disaster victim identification process over the next few days. Our investigators, our family liaison officers, are speaking to the families and victims. We are in contact. That process will continue throughout the investigation and the court process.”
Waddell did note that the bus passengers were in their “20s to 60s”, and that they were “males and females, local and interstate, as you’d expect.”
“It’s a traumatic event for all the family,” he added, “all the friends, from what was a wedding where people come from wide and far.”
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