Townsville Bulletin-10 foreign officials hurt

Friday August 10, 2007

Townsville Bulletin

HEADLINE--front page
10 FOREIGN OFFICIALS HURT IN CITY BUS CRASH >> page 3 (klik for photos)

Page 3

10 HURT IN BUS SMASH

Figure (above)=CLOSE SHAVE....accident on Nathan St outside Good Shepherd Home with some 10 injured people taken to hospital
Figure (middle)=Ambulance officers helping one of the accident victims
Figure (bottom)=More victims being assisted to an Ambulance

by Leonie Johnson - crime reporter - interviewed JCU's Dr Andrew Baird (middle inzet)

TEN foreign officials were hospitalised after a truck and bus collided on Nathan St yesterday afternoon.
The chartered bus was carrying 13 (corrected : 10-by ppia jcu) Indonesian government officials, who were on their way to tour JCU's marine science facilities.
It appeared the Townsville City Council truck crashed into the side of the bus, crushing the side panels and smashing windows about 1.30 pm.
One of the bus passengers (Mr Marcus-by ppia jcu) was unable to get out of the bus due to their injuries and was helped by ambulance officers.
The female bus driver was one of those taken to hospital, while the truck driver escaped without injury and gave a statement to police.
Traffic gridlock made it hard for emergency services crews to get to the accident scene to treat the large number of casualties.
Five (four: Afliana Salean, Hamid, Yusdi, Marcus -by ppia jcu) people were put on to stretchers to be transported to Townsville Hospital, one (Mr Marcus--she was a miracle)with reported broken bones that were sticking through the skin (not true-by ppia jcu).
JCU senior researcher Dr Andrew Baird said he was waiting for the group to arrive when he heard news of the accident. (the meeting was also attended by the Head of School and the Director of Center of Excellence.. at 5 pm "after all waiting in a deep sympathy" Dr Andrew called Dr Jamal "is there any or at least one 'well survived' delegate who can attend the meeting shortly as we'd like to keep this important meeting running if possible.." luckily the Team Leader Dr Jamal was escaped without any injuries).
He rushed to the accident scene to offer what assistance he could.
"There was a group of 13 Indonesians, including local politicians, members of an institution in Indonesia called COREMAP who do mapping of coral reefs and there were also a number of individuals from the fisheries department", he said.
"They were hoping to come to James Cook University to see Centre of Excellence reef studies, where we were going to give them a presentation on what JCU had to offer in terms of student training and also some of the more recent advances in marine science and what that might mean for managing reefs in Indonesia.
"We were waiting for them in the foyer when we got the call that they had an accident."
(Dian pertama kali menerima call dari Pak Jamal.. it was shocking me.. Dian called Gustaf first as Gustaf yang responsible contact to Dr Andrew, Dian (ready to go behind the steer of a green sedan) saw Zen around the foyer.. when Dian tried to call Zen while Gustaf ran to inform Dr Andrew about this accident.. suddenly one call in from Mr Jamal.. okay ready to go Gustaf .."gue liat Zen tadi tapi gue cuekin ajah.." "cling" Zen ternyata udah nongkrong manis di belakang my seat in the car hahaha...). On the site sambil lari-lari, orang kedua yang harus Dian call adalah yang punya kendaraan, Farida, kata Zen mobilnya lagi dipake.. okay then "MITA" yang bakalan datang plus dengan "Angel" satu paket.. That's it.. Dian trusts ppiaers will pass on this breaking news to others.. so then Lita came and join us)
Queensland Fire and Rescue Service Woodlands station officer Jay Roberts said the accident could have been much worse.
"We received a call of a motor vehicle accident involving a truck and a bus," he said.
"When we initally took the call we weren't initially aware of how many people on the bus or the damage. Upon arrival everybody except for one occupant (Mrs Afliana-by ppia jcu) was out of the bus and being treated by QAS (Queensland Ambulance Service). Traffic had to be stopped to one lane to allow police to investigate the accident. A truck hitting a bus can have a severe impact,but this was a lucky one."

© PPIA-JCU