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Australian tourists injured in bus crash that reportedly killed two in Vanuatu Australian tourists injured in fatal bus crash in Vanuatu
(35 minutes later)
A group of Australian cruise ship passengers have been seriously injured in a bus crash in Vanuatu. Brisbane hospitals are on standby to receive a group of Australian tourists injured in a fatal bus crash in Vanuatu.
The ABC is reporting two locals have been killed and 12 tourists injured. P&O says 12 tourists from the Brisbane-based Pacific Dawn cruise ship were hurt in Monday’s crash, which killed two Ni-Vanuatu people.
P&O told AAP that the tourists, who had been travelling on the Pacific Dawn, were involved in a serious crash during a shore visit in the capital, Port Vila, on Monday. Ten of the tourists had serious injuries and three have been airlifted to Noumea where they are receiving specialist care.
The company’s Facebook page provided an update on Monday night, saying: “It can now be confirmed that 10 of the Pacific Dawn guests sustained significant injuries. The airlift was due continue on Tuesday, with some of the other victims to be flown to Brisbane hospitals, a P&O spokesman said.
“We have been arranging for air ambulances from Australia and New Caledonia to airlift these passengers to Brisbane or Noumea for specialist medical treatment. Three of the injured guests are being transferred by air ambulance to Noumea overnight.” The crash, in the capital Port Vila, involved a local commuter bus and a cruise ship tour bus run by a local operator.
P&O spokesman David Jones told the ABC two Ni-Vanuatu were killed in a head-on collision between a local bus and the cruise ship’s tour bus operated by a local company. “Sadly, two members of the local community have passed away following the accident,” the spokesman said.
He would not comment on the likelihood of any fatalities among the injured Australians, but added: “The injuries are significant – the sort of injuries you’d expect in road trauma.”
“This was a big event for Port Vila. So we made the decision to airlift them to take the pressure off [local] health services.”
Michael Smith, the director of Gold Coast-based Medical Rescue Air Ambulance, said his company was sending two planes to Port Vila to retrieve patients.
He said they had everything from serious head injuries to multiple lower-limb fractures. “It sounds like it was a pretty nasty accident,” he told ABC radio.
The first of his two planes – each equipped with a specialist emergency doctor, intensive care nurse, and critical care paramedic – was expected to land in Port Vila about 8.30am (AEST), with the second to leave the Gold Coast later in the day.
P&O said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade was aware of the crash, and was providing consular assistance.
The families of the injured have also been notified. P&O said it was likely most, if not all, of the injured 12 would be Australian.
The spokesman could not provided ages or genders for those hurt, nor say if the crash involved children.
The Pacific Dawn will remain in Port Vila until the medical evacuations are complete.
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“In terms of the Australian passengers, 12 had significant injuries and 10 of those were at a level where we thought it was best to arrange air ambulance evacuations to Noumea and to Brisbane,” he told the ABC. “Our thoughts are with our guests and families at this time and also with members of the Ni Van community,” P&O said on its Facebook page.
An earlier P&O Facebook post said the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade had been alerted and P&O was receiving consular support. In a new Facebook post on Tuesday morning, P&O said injured passengers were receiving good care in a Port Vila hospital while they awaited medical evacuations.
P&O said all the families of those injured had been contacted or were in the process of being contacted on Monday night. “We are also receiving strong consular support both in Port Vila and in Noumea as this operation continues,” the company said.
“Our current priority in Vila is to ensure our passengers and members of the local Ni-Van community are receiving all possible care,” it said “We thank our other guests who are currently on Pacific Dawn and have expressed their concern for their fellow guests. The captain is updating them on developments.”