2010 Papua New Guinea bus crash
2010 Papua New Guinea bus crash | |
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Morobe Province in Papua New Guinea, the site of disaster
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Details | |
Date | 14 January 2010 |
Location | 130 km from Lae, Morobe province. |
Country | Papua New Guinea |
Bus route or line | Route 100 (Highway) & Route 3 |
Bus operator | – |
Bus owner | – |
Type of incident | Head-on collision |
Statistics | |
Bus | Coaster & PMV(truck) |
Deaths | 40 |
Injuries | dozens |
The 2010 Papua New Guinea bus crash was a collision of two buses in Papua New Guinea on 14 January 2010. At least 40 people were killed after a Route 100 (Highway) Coaster bus and a Route 3 public motor vehicle (PMV, a refitted truck used for public transportation) crashed head-on in Papua New Guinea's worst ever road accident.[1] The accident happened 130 km outside of Lae, in Morobe province.[1][2]
It was described as "one of the saddest days in the history of road accidents", occurring in an "impoverished" country.[3] The local morgue was unable to cope with demand as bodies from the crash piled up.[4] Two of the dead may have been taken elsewhere which would leave the death toll at 42 if confirmed.[1]
Contents
Crash
The two buses were intended to carry only twenty-five people each but were overloaded at the time of the incident.[5][6][7] They were also said to have been speeding, travelling as fast as 100 km/h (60 mph).[5] The drivers encountered potholes on the road and could not avoid a collision.[3][5][6] Bodies were thrown through windows and across the road, some onto tar, some onto grass.[1][8] Broken heads, limbs and necks were seen by onlookers.[1] A policeman later said: "This accident appears to have occurred when both drivers tried to avoid potholes, and in the process collided".[6]
Some local people rushed to assist those in need of attention,[8] claiming they had never before seen such a "bloody and macabre" scene.[1] Many of those injured died on the scene quite quickly.[5] Eight others received serious wounds.[5] Many more died before emergency services arrived on the scene.[5] Eighteen people were hospitalised in the aftermath of the accident.[6] Eight of these people were left in intensive care.[3] Some of these eight are not expected to survive.[4] One passenger, 22-year-old Gideon Jack, said he was asleep at the time of the crash and woke up to find his bloodied body being loaded into a truck.[8] Media in Papua New Guinea posted what were described by ABC Radio Australia's News as "shocking photographs of bodies hanging out of the mangled wreckage of the two buses".[4]
The buses were described by media in Australia as "mangled wrecks".[8] Angau Hospital in Lae saw its morgue packed with bodies and relatives came to check if anyone they knew was amongst them.[8] The morgue was unable to cope as bodies kept coming in, prompting requests for refrigerator donations.[4][9]
Response
Assistant Police Commissioner Giossi Labi described the crash as follows: "It is one of the saddest days in the history of road accidents where we have such a number of commuters die at once".[5][6][10] He also accused bus drivers of speeding so they could make more money by getting to their destinations quicker and picking up more passengers.[11]
Peter Guinness, a superintendent, said: "There are so many potholes along the highway. Some of these potholes are like craters. Now they basically wanted to avoid those potholes".[4]
Koni Iguan, a parliamentarian, said it was "the most horrific accident" ever witnessed and described it as "This is the nastiest and bloodiest of accidents on the highway".[3][5] Nearby villagers backed him up as he said no less than 10 deaths would be expected from such a horrific accident.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- [1] Crash Photo
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