Tourist buses roll on notorious highway’s black ice

Friday, 19 July 2024

The stretch of road where two buses rolled in black ice near Tekapo has had six crashes in less than two weeks.

The latest crashes - separate, single-bus crashes that happened 100m apart between Lake Pukaki and Lake Tekapo - were reported about 8.40am on Thursday. Dozens of people were on each of the buses.

Fifteen people needed medical attention, including two sent to Dunedin and Timaru hospitals in serious conditions. Two others had moderate injuries.

The driving conditions at the time of Thursday’s crashes were treacherous.

Tony McClelland, who was driving a work van from Christchurch to Ōmarama, said he saw the two buses not far from where they crashed. He had slowed to 60kph after nearly sliding off the road five minutes earlier and believed it should have been closed.

“The driving conditions were so bad with heavy fog and black ice,” he said.

Mike Bacchus, of nearby Lakestone Lodge, was one of the first on the scene.

He said there had been six crashes due to black ice in the area in the last week-and-a-half.

The ice was so treacherous it was difficult to stand on and he wore spikes on his shoes. He said motorists who slowed to 20kph could still lose control on the ice when they braked.

The region’s roads had some of the country’s most challenging conditions, ranging from extreme summer heat to winds of up to 200kph and freezing winter temperatures.

On a single day in March this year, three people were killed in two separate crashes on SH8 near the intersection with Aoraki/Mt Cook.

Bacchus said the risks were not taken seriously. Last year, a new Ministry of Education contract introduced school buses without seatbelts.

He had stopped sending his children on the bus and now drove them to Twizel Area School together with a neighbour’s 6-year-old, who was buckled in with a five-point harness. “On the bus, they just throw him in and say good luck on the ice.”

Free Line Coach Ltd manager Ryan Qiao confirmed the Auckland-based company owned the buses that crashed on Thursday and the drivers had been operating for 10 years.

He said three of their buses were travelling in a convoy with a large group of children, adults and three teachers from China who were attending the World Choir Games in Auckland last week.

Qiao believed the buses were being operated at safe speeds, but said the road “was really bad” with black ice. Both drivers were uninjured, he said.

Grace Duggin, who came across the “pretty scary” scene, said she saw a bloodied and “beaten up” man pulling passengers out an emergency hatch on top of the bus as it lay on its side.

The man broke his wrist trying to help others escape.

Duggin said “a lot” of children had head wounds. There were 24 Chinese tourists on the bus and five children had serious injuries.

Emergency services arrived within 15 minutes, she said.

Passengers on the buses who did not need medical attention were taken to Twizel.

Felicity Wong, travelling from Tekapo to Twizel, also came across one of the buses after it rolled. She said 33 Chinese tourists were on board, including many children. The biggest concern was keeping the tourists warm as the temperature was -1C, she said. “It was lucky they were wearing warm clothes.”

Wong said both buses were heading towards Tekapo from Pukaki when they crashed. Her two sons-in-law, a road policing officer and a doctor, were able to help.

The road was closed until mid afternoon between Lake Tekapo and the intersection with SH80 near Lake Pukaki, near the Hayman Rd intersection.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand sent crews from Twizel, Lake Tekapo, Ōmārama and Otematata.

Hato Hone St John responded with three helicopters, three first response units, one ambulance, nine rapid response vehicles and one prime doctor.

McKenzie mayor Anne Munro said her thoughts were with everyone involved and family and friends of the passengers.

She believed the road was gritted, but said conditions had been poor with freezing fog, requiring motorists to drive to the conditions.

The NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi had issued a warning about icy conditions.