At Least 32 Killed in Australian Bus Crash
Two tour buses filled with Christmas travelers collided in foul weather today, killing 32 people and injuring at least 34 in Australia’s worst traffic tragedy, police said.
The buses, bound for Sydney and the Queensland capital of Brisbane, slammed into each other in fog and rain at 3:30 a.m. near Kempsey, New South Wales, 300 miles north of Sydney.
A police spokesman said he feared the death toll could rise to 40 or more as paramedics and doctors worked frantically to pull passengers from the wreckage.
Acting New South Wales State Premier Wal Murray flew to the scene and said the government would introduce legislation reducing the speed for heavy vehicles to 56 m.p.h. from 62 m.p.h.
Today’s accident was Australia’s worst road tragedy, eclipsing one last October when 20 passengers in an interstate bus died in a head-on collision with a truck on the same highway only 130 miles to the south.
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