A tourist coach carrying a large group of foreign visitors has rolled over on the Bruce Highway in North Queensland, killing one person and sending more than a dozen passengers to hospital.
Emergency services were called to the crash site at Gumlu, a remote stretch between Townsville and Bowen, just before 4pm Thursday. Of the 29 patients assessed on scene – including the driver – three had life-threatening injuries. One person has since died.
Eight patients remain in Townsville University Hospital in stable condition, with one each at Bowen and Ayr hospitals. The bus driver, aged 70, and two passengers have been discharged.
Queensland Police Superintendent Dean Cavanagh confirmed a “large portion” of the 28 passengers were foreign nationals, adding that the international dimension complicated both the investigation and welfare support for passengers whose families are spread across the globe.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli described the incident as a tragedy, noting that many of those involved were young travellers experiencing Australia. “You’ve got young people in many cases living out their dream in a foreign country,” he said.
It is not the first major road incident to involve FlixBus, the German low-cost coach operator that owns the local bus company. In November 2019, a FlixBus service travelling between Paris and London overturned on a highway in the Somme region of northern France, leaving all 33 passengers injured. The coach was carrying travellers from nine countries, among them at least one Australian, who received consular assistance from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. FlixBus issued a near-identical statement at the time, saying it was cooperating with local authorities to establish the cause.
Following Thursday’s crash, the company said it is again working with police and has established an emergency hotline for affected passengers and their families.
The Gumlu stretch of the Bruce Highway has now been the site of two serious tourist coach crashes in under two years – a similar rollover at the same location in 2024 killed three people. Whitsunday Mayor Ry Collins, who described Thursday’s scene as “carnage”, renewed calls for urgent highway upgrades, a position the Premier echoed. “It’s such an important road for our state, for our nation, and it’s not up to scratch,” Crisafulli said.
The Forensic Crash Unit is investigating the cause of the crash.
33 passengers injured, including tourists in Paris–London bus crash
