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Fiordland Medical Centre GP Dr Stephen Hoskins said it was not the first bus crash that clinic has had to deal with.

The staff had undergone regular practice for emergencies like the crash as it was part and parcel of rural general practitioner work.

There were three doctors and two nurses working at the time who were able to see to the patients.

NZ Transport Agency national media manager Andy Knackstedt said there had been a warning in place for roads in Southland yesterday.

‘‘There was freezing fog in that area, so the roads were affected by, in various places, black ice.’’

Contractors had spread grit on the road at 5am and several days ago put down a chemical anti-icing agent.

The road conditions yesterday were not unusual for this time of year, he said.

Southland has experienced a week of hard frosts with temperatures reaching as low as -4 degree Celsius.

The bus crash was not the only incident that kept emergency services busy, as there were three crashes within two hours.

At 7am a car crashed into a lamp post at the intersection of the Bluff highway and Bond St in south Invercargill. The road was not blocked and there were no injuries as a result of the crash.

Before 10am a car came off the Winton – Wreys Bush highway near the intersection with Winton Substation Rd. The 20-year-old female driver was found to have moderate injuries and was taken to Southland Hospital by ambulance.