One dead, five injured when car, bus collide – New England

A man died and five people were injured when a car and a bus collided on the New England Highway south of Armidale this morning.

The crash happened about 1.30am (Saturday 6 September 2014), at Kentucky, about 40km south of Armidale, when the southbound sedan and northbound coach collided. The bus then slid a further 200m before rolling onto its side into a table drain.

The driver of the car, believed to be a 19-year-old man from Uralla, died at the scene. He was an unaccompanied learner driver.

There were eight passengers on the bus at the time; first police on the scene helped six passengers from the bus’s emergency exit, then entered the vehicle to free the driver and two remaining passengers.

The bus driver, a 50-year-old man from Rosebery, sustained shoulder, lower-back and hand injuries.

Four passengers were taken to Armidale Hospital with non-life threatening injuries:

• A 68-year-old Queensland woman sustained injuries to her chest and left arm;

• A 71-year-old Armidale woman sustained injuries to her shoulder and hand;

• A 31-year-old Bolton Point woman sustained cuts to her head, and possibly chest and pelvic injuries;

• A 29-year-old woman, from Tamworth, sustained cuts to her left leg, as well as possible neck and back injuries.

Four passengers left the scene with family members.