A bride and groom were pictured smiling and cutting their wedding cake moments before ten of their guests died in a bus crash.
Mitchell Gaffney and Madeleine Edsell from Australia tied the knot at Wandin Valley Estate in the Hunter Valley in the presence of their families and friends last Sunday.
Just hours after the beautiful and emotional ceremony, a bus carrying 39 wedding guests crashed in Greta resulting in ten fatalities.
On top of the ten casualties, 21 more wedding guests had to be hospitalized for a variety of injuries including lacerations and broken bones.
“It’s just horribly sad. For them to all be having so much fun last night then for this to happen,” one woman who worked at the wedding told Daily Mail Australia.
While the cause of the crash remains shrouded in mystery, reports suggest heavy fog was present in the area at the time of the incident.
The driver of the bus, a 58-year-old man, has since been treated at the hospital and later placed under arrest. According to the Cessnock Police Station, the suspect remains in custody pending charges.
“All of us know the joy of going to a wedding, a chance to celebrate dear friends and family.point 381 |
They are some of the happiest times that you can have.point 44 | For a joyous day like that in a beautiful place to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said in a Monday statement confirming the deadly bus crash.point 232 | 1
“People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe and that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy.
“The mental scars of this will not go away. They are there forever. When the spotlight leaves the care doesn’t, for people who have witnessed this and for people who have experienced this tragedy firsthand.”
Meanwhile, the police confirmed that they have sufficient information to press charges against the bus driver. Since the driver was not driving under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, the police believe erratic driving could be the cause of the crash.
“It’s a tragic set of circumstances. The number of family members, but broader community, who will be impacted by this, you couldn’t count,” Assistant Commissioner Tracy Chapman said.
Our thoughts remain with the victims of the bus crash and their loved ones during this challenging time.