TWO CRITICALLY INJURED IN CANTERBURY BUS CRASH
Motorists scrambled through bush to help injured cruise ship passengers after their tourist bus crashed down a bank near Akaroa.
Two passengers from the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice were in critical condition and five were seriously injured last night following a collision between the bus they were sightseeing in and a car.
St John Ambulance controller Sean Lester said two people with critical injuries had been rushed to Christchurch Hospital emergency department by helicopter.
Another person with serious injuries was flown to hospital in another helicopter and four more who were also seriously hurt were taken to Christchurch Hospital via road ambulance.
An eighth person with moderate injuries was also taken to hospital in an ambulance.
The remaining occupants of the vehicles involved — who either had minor or no injuries — were taken to Akaroa Fire Station on another bus for paramedics to assess them.
Police said the passengers were from the Celebrity Solstice, which was due to dock in the Akaroa Harbour yesterday.
Firefighters had to cut one person from the car and the bus driver out of the wreckage.
Police say the bus and the car collided just after 5pm and the bus ended up down a bank near the intersection of Summit Rd and the Christchurch-Akaroa Rd.
Emergency services workers told a reporter 33 people were on the bus when it went off the side of the road near the Hilltop Tavern. Police later said the correct figure was 32.
Camera operator Matthew Simons said yesterday he could see the bus about 50m down the bank and a blue wagon-like Toyota on the road.
Debris from the smash was strewn on the road and the front of the car was mangled.
Photos from the scene also showed the wreckage of the bus lying on its side among the foliage.
People could be seen scrambling to get to the bus to help.
A Fire Service spokesman said multiple fire appliances from Akaroa and Christchurch city went to the scene.
The Christchurch-Akaroa Rd was closed last night between Summit Rd and Barry’s Bay Rd.
The Celebrity Solstice has capacity for 2850 passengers and 1250 crew members.
Tragedy has struck its passengers on New Zealand roads three times in the past few months.
A Canadian passenger from the ship was severely injured when he was hit by a campervan while cycling with his partner on Otago Peninsula last week. He has since made a remarkable recovery.
An elderly American woman who was on board a November sailing was killed while riding a bike in Tauranga the day the ship arrived in the city.
The 71-year-old was struck by a truck near the harbour bridge.
The same afternoon a bus carrying passengers from the same ship collided with a car on State Highway 29. The car’s driver died but no one on the bus was injured.