Dozens of cruise ship passengers hurt in bus crash
A group of passers-by helped pull tourists from steep bush after a bus crashed down a bank near Christchurch yesterday.
More than 20 people were injured – including seven seriously – after a bus and a car collided on State Highway 75, near Akaroa, about 5pm.
There were 32 people on the bus. They were headed from Christchurch to Akaroa, where the cruise ship Celebrity Solstice was berthed.
The bus crashed about 10 metres down the bank. Passengers had to climb out through a broken window and scramble through bush to reach the road.
Most had minor injuries such as cuts and bruises, but two suffered critical injuries and five were seriously injured.
It was understood the two people in the car were among the injured. The car’s driver was removed by firefighters using the jaws of life.
The bus driver was also trapped before being rescued from the wreckage.
Two people with critical injuries and one with serious injuries were flown to Christchurch Hospital’s emergency department, a St John spokesman said.
Another four people with serious injuries and one with moderate injuries were taken to hospital by road ambulances.
Twenty-six people including some with minor injuries were taken by bus to Akaroa Fire Station, where those who needed it were treated by paramedics. All returned to the ship about 8pm. The ship was scheduled to leave for Dunedin at 7pm, but was delayed by several hours because of the crash.
Akaroa chief fire officer Mark Thomson said about a dozen motorists stopped and helped the passengers escape.
‘‘The bystanders have done a marvellous job,’’ he said. ‘‘It was a very steep, bushy bank. There were other buses and a lot of workmen heading home ... they did a wonderful job.’’
Passengers on a previous Celebrity Solstice cruise were involved in two separate tragedies in Tauranga last year.
A 71-year-old American woman was killed after being struck by a truck while on a cycling tour on November 22.
Earlier the same day, a Bethlehem Coachlines bus carrying a group of cruise ship passengers was involved in a head-on collision with a car.
The driver of the car died at the scene.