Gumlu bus tragedy: Grim details emerge after coach full of tourists rolls in deadly Bruce Hwy crash

The charter bus was filled with tourists, mainly from overseas.
One woman has died in a bus crash at Gumlu and another 28 people have been injured.

A 26-year-old woman has been revealed as the tourist killed in a Whitsundays bus crash.

A charter bus travelling from Cairns to Airlie Beach, with 29 passengers on board, left the Bruce Hwy at Gumlu about 4pm on Thursday.

The bus rolled onto its side on a creek embankment, killing one person and injuring everyone else on board.

“A lady has lost her life, it’s a real tragedy,” Queensland Police Mackay Whitsunday Superintendent Dean Cavanagh said on Friday.

In an update on Friday afternoon, police said she was a 26-year-old Argentine Italian.

Two other passengers were fighting for life when emergency services arrived, and the remaining passengers were all taken to various hospitals.

The survivors are now all in stable conditions, Cavanagh said.

One woman died in the bus crash at Gumlu while the other 28 people on board were injured.One woman died in the bus crash at Gumlu while the other 28 people on board were injured. Credit: 7NEWS

All the coach passengers “are tourists to our region,” he said in a press conference on Friday.

“A majority were from overseas.

“It was a very complex incident, a very serious incident.”

The bus was also filled with passengers’ personal items and baggage, and Cavanagh said there was “a very conscious effort last night to gather that and try to return it to these tourists at various locations and hospitals as quick as we could”.

He said Queensland Police will be working with partner agencies and the Department of Home Affairs to ensure the loved ones of those involved in the crash are supported through the investigation process.

All the passengers on the bus were tourists, most from overseas.All the passengers on the bus were tourists, most from overseas. Credit: 7NEWS Queensland Police Superintendent Dean Cavanagh said more passengers could have died if not for the actions of first responders.Queensland Police Superintendent Dean Cavanagh said more passengers could have died if not for the actions of first responders. Credit: 7NEWS

Cavanagh commended the emergency response at the crash site, which he said was “was in an isolated area”.

“What we saw was multiple emergency response crews from various locations respond very quickly, very professionally, and join at that location.

“Although we tragically lost a life, I believe that effort that we saw went to saving many, many more.

“It was a very confronting scene.”

Cavanagh thanked the first responders as well as passing members of the public who he said stopped to help.

“It certainly is a testament to that community,” Cavanagh said.

The bus driver, a 70-year-old Mackay man, suffered minor injuries and was taken to Bowen Hospital.

Flixbus, the company whose platform listed the coach service, said: “We are deeply saddened to confirm a coach service listed on the Flixbus platform was involved in a serious accident.

“We are heartbroken to learn that one passenger has since passed away in hospital. The coach operator is working closely with emergency services and local authorities as they investigate the cause of the accident.”

The police investigation is ongoing and witnesses should contact authorities.

The crash comes just a week after a driver was found not guilty over a 2024 Greyhound bus crash that killed three passengers in the same area on the Bruce Hwy.