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A crash tragically killed 10 wedding guests just hours after a bride and groom celebrated their dream day.
Following the marriage of Madeleine Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney in Australia's wine country on Sunday (11 June), a crash occurred involving the shuttle bus taking many of their guests back to the accommodation.
After the happy couple tied the knot in Lovedale, Hunter Valley, a number of guests travelled home in particularly foggy conditions.
The coach, believed to be transporting around 40 guests, was involved in the horror incident at at a roundabout on Wine Country Drive in the town of Greta, New South Wales, according to police.
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Police assistant commissioner Tracy Chapman said the 58-year-old bus driver - who is now being held at a Cessnock police station - has been arrested and will be charged.
25 of the passengers were also injured in the crash, with 21 still in hospital and one of them in critical condition, said the state government late Monday morning local time.
Another 18 of the passengers survived the crash without physical injury.
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A motorist drove past the scene, and told ABC the fog was so heavy she couldn't even make out the colours of the flashing lights of police cars, ambulances and fire trucks.
Identified only as Alison, she said: "The fog was terrible. It was super foggy. You could barely see in front of you.”
The couple's ceremony had been described as a 'fairy-tale wedding' by a witness to 7News.
Edsell had arrived in a 1957 Beetle convertible which worked on by her dad to get it ready in time for her big day.
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About 100 people are said to have attended the nuptials.
Jay Suvaal, the Mayor of Cessnock, said the crash that followed this 'fairy-tale' event was 'truly horrific'.
A spokesperson for the venue said they are 'providing support to guests who need our help'.
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They added: "We are deeply saddened to hear of the bus crash overnight that claimed the lives of some of our guests.
"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the family and friends of the victims and we are supporting them in any way we can."
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese thanked the first responders and offered government support to victims and their families, saying the 'mental scars of this will not go away'.
“For a joyous day like that, in a beautiful place, to end with such terrible loss of life and injury is so cruel and so sad and so unfair,” Albanese told reporters.
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"People hire a bus for weddings in order to keep their guests safe. And that just adds to the unimaginable nature of this tragedy."
Jess Battison