A survivor of a deadly bus crash which killed a young tourist has claimed the driver warned passengers the vehicle was “not the best one” before it allegedly began moving erratically and rolled off the road.
Chilean tourist Barbara Goncalves told exclusively passengers felt unsafe for much of the journey, alleging the coach braked harshly and drifted between lanes before the crash.
MIA reopened after partial evacuation, causing backlog of anxious travelersMcClatchy|
Sponsored
These Comfortable Pants Are Trending Among Mature WomenLilyWish|
Sponsored
by Taboola
A charter bus travelling from Cairns to Airlie Beach with 29 people on board left the Bruce Hwy at Gumlu, north of Bowen, about 4pm on Thursday.
The bus rolled onto its side on a creek embankment, killing 26-year-old Argentine-Italian tourist Serena Andreatta and injuring every other passenger onboard.
Goncalves and her partner Hernan had spent weeks travelling through Japan before the crash.


Videos and photos shared with 7NEWS show the couple admiring Mt Fuji, visiting shrines and riding the bullet train before flying to Queensland for the final leg of their journey to Hamilton Island.
Goncalves claimed the driver made concerning comments about the vehicle hours before the crash.
“He told me this bus is not the best one,” she said.
“But (he said) ‘it’s OK. It’s going to be OK’.”
“We felt unsafe most of the way.
“We had this feeling that something was going to happen.
“Now I regret. I should’ve said something to him.”


Queensland Police previously said all passengers onboard were tourists visiting the Whitsundays region, with the majority from overseas.
“It’s horrible because we are far from our family,” Goncalves said through tears.
“We don’t have any support here, so it’s hard.”
Speaking about fellow passengers after the crash, Goncalves said: “You could see how sad they were. How alone they felt.”
Two passengers were initially fighting for life, but survivors are now in stable conditions.
“It was a very complex incident, a very serious incident,” Mackay Whitsunday Superintendent Dean Cavanagh said on Friday.
“A lady has lost her life, it’s a real tragedy.”
FlixBus, the company whose platform listed the coach service, said safety was “the highest priority” and the company “goes beyond legal requirements”.
The company said it thoroughly trains drivers, monitors rest times and enforces strict standards.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has promised “a thorough, independent and detailed assessment as to what went wrong”.
News
40-Year-Old Fa-t-ally Trapped in Escalator Incident — Chil-ling Witness Details Spark Outrage Online
Steven McCluskey. A man died due to a freak escalator accident that was ignored by others. Steven McCluskey was traveling…
Teen Vanished After Leaving for a Football Match in 1988 — Now Police Believe a Secret ‘Shed’ Ring May Hold the Horrifying Answer
Grieving dad Peter Boxell tells The Sun how his family have been given an unexpected lifeline in their decades-long fight…
MYSTERY DEEPENS AFTER DAWN EXPLOSION — POLICE TURN DE-A-D-L-Y HOUSE FIRE INTO CRIMINAL CASE
Police are investigating a fatal house fire in the Ballarat suburb of Wendouree this morning. (ABC News: Laura Mayers) A…
FAMILY OF TEEN K-I IN STOLEN UTE CR-A-SH BREAKS SILENCE — ONE EMOTIONAL DETAIL IS DIVIDING THE INTERNET
A notorious teen offender who was killed in a horror crash in an allegedly stolen ute over the weekend has…
David And Alissa DID Speak To Experts At The Reunion — But MAFS Never Aired The Footage
Most of us have been on tenterhooks, waiting to see what finally goes down between David and Alissa during their final commitment…
The Brutal Truth About MAFS Australia’s Success Rate Is Leaving Fans Completely Stunned
Another year of MAFS Australia, and another bunch of brides and grooms to prove the success rate of this show is well…
End of content
No more pages to load






