What we know about the fatal Hunter Valley wedding bus crash

Detectives are piecing together what happened in the lead-up to, and aftermath, of the devastating crash – which is one of the worst road accidents in the area’s history.

Just after 11.30pm, emergency services were called to a roundabout on Wine Country Drive near the Hunter Expressway off ramp at Greta, after receiving reports a coach had crashed and overturned.

NSW Police Acting Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman confirmed 10 people had been killed in the crash, with 25 taken to hospital.

The driver of the 57-seat bus, a 58-year-old man, has been arrested and is now at Cessnock Police Station. 

Police have said they expect charges to be laid.

The wedding was for local footballer Mitchell Gaffney and Maddy Edsell. The couple are from Melbourne but are understood to have moved to NSW.

Gaffney is a member of the Singleton Roosters AFL team, as were several of the guests.

The wedding is also believed to have hosted number of guests from Warrandyte Cricket Club in Melbourne, where Gaffney used to play.

“I think one has got a broken jaw, a couple have got broken collar bones,” he said.

“One lady has got maybe a back fracture but all of our people are accounted for.”

The bus had been carrying guests who attended a wedding at the nearby Wandin Estate winery in Lovedale earlier that evening.

The estate is about 10 kilometres away from the site of the accident.

Police have said the bus was on its way to Singleton.

Wandin Valley winery issued a brief statement this morning, saying they were “deeply saddened” by news of the crash.

“Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the victims and we are supporting them in any way we can,” the owners said.

“At this time, we are providing support to those guests who need our help and we wish to maintain their privacy, and won’t be making any further statements at this time.”

While police have not yet given an indication of what they believe led to the crash, it appears there were no other vehicles involved.

We know there was a heavy fog this morning, which hampered visibility and prevented helicopters from landing at the crash site.

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While the male bus driver has been arrested, further information about what police plan to charge him with is not yet known.

The driver was taken for mandatory testing, but 9News understands he was not above the legal alcohol limit.

How many people were injured?

The death toll from the accident stood at 10 as of 10am this morning.

There were also further 21 passengers from the 57-seat bus confirmed to still be in hospital by the office of NSW Premier Chris Minns.

The patients are being treated across four hospitals.

One patient is in a critical condition and eight patients are in a stable condition at John Hunter Hospital.

Five patients are in a stable condition at Maitland Hospital.

Five more are also in a stable condition at Calvary Mater Newcastle and two patients are in a stable condition at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Emergency call after crash revealed

A paramedic who arrived on the scene called for assistance, with the recording revealing the extent of the carnage faced by first responders.

“Major incident declared. We have a bus rollover, multiple patients,” he said.

“The exact location is on Wine Country Drive overpass. We have police, fire brigade on scene.

“At this stage, we have identified seven, I repeat, seven, code fours.”

A “code four” is a person who has died.

The caller also said there was one “red label” patient also expected to die, and multiple red (critical) and orange (serious) patients.

“I need all resources allocated to continue, I am still trying to work out exactly how many patients I have here,” the paramedic said.