The 2010 Papua New Guinea bus crash was a collision of two

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es in Papua New Guinea on 14 January 2010. At least 40 people were killed after a Route 100 (Highway) Coaster bus and a Route 3 public motor vehicle (PMV, a refitted truck used for public transportation) crashed head-on in Papua New Guinea's worst ever road accident. The accident happened 130 km outside of Lae, in Morobe province. It was described as "one of the saddest days in the history of road accidents", occurring in an "impoverished" country. The local

morgue A morgue or mortuary (in a hospital or elsewhere) is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have cu ...

was unable to cope with demand as bodies from the crash piled up. Two of the dead may have been taken elsewhere which would leave the death toll at 42 if confirmed.

Crash

The two buses were intended to carry only twenty-five people each but were overloaded at the time of the incident. The drivers encountered

pothole A pothole is a depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affected area. Wate ...

s on the road and could not avoid a collision. Bodies were thrown through windows and across the road, some onto tar, some onto grass. Broken heads, limbs and necks were seen by onlookers. A policeman later said: "This accident appears to have occurred when both drivers tried to avoid

s, and in the process collided". Some local people rushed to assist those in need of attention, claiming they had never before seen such a "bloody and macabre" scene. Eighteen people were hospitalised in the aftermath of the accident. Eight of these people were left in intensive care. Some of these eight are not expected to survive. One passenger, 22-year-old Gideon Jack, said he was asleep at the time of the crash and woke up to find his bloodied body being loaded into a truck. Media in Papua New Guinea posted what were described by

ABC Radio Australia ABC Radio Australia, also known as Radio Australia, is the international broadcasting and online service operated by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Australia's public broadcaster. Most programming is in English, with some in Tok ...

's News as "shocking photographs of bodies hanging out of the mangled wreckage of the two buses". The buses were described by media in Australia as "mangled wrecks". Angau Hospital in Lae saw its morgue packed with bodies and relatives came to check if anyone they knew was amongst them. The morgue was unable to cope as bodies kept coming in, prompting requests for refrigerator donations.

Response

Assistant Police Commissioner Giossi Labi described the crash as follows: "It is one of the saddest days in the history of road accidents where we have such a number of commuters die at once". He also accused bus drivers of speeding so they could make more money by getting to their destinations quicker and picking up more passengers. Peter Guinness, a superintendent, said: "There are so many potholes along the highway. Some of these potholes are like craters. Now they basically wanted to avoid those potholes".

Koni Iguan Koni Iguan (born 6 June 1969) is a Papua New Guinea politician. He has been a Pangu Party member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea since 2017, representing the Markham Open electorate. He formerly held the same seat from 2007 to 201 ...

, a parliamentarian, said it was "the most horrific accident" ever witnessed and described it as "This is the nastiest and bloodiest of accidents on the highway". Nearby villagers backed him up as he said no less than 10 deaths would be expected from such a horrific accident.

References

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External links

Crash Photo 2010 in Papua New Guinea, Papua New Guinea Bus Crash, 2010

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

Morobe Province Bus incidents in Papua New Guinea 2010 disasters in Papua New Guinea