Aussie bus driver gets bail after being charged for 10 passengers' deaths

 A bus driver was driving too fast when his 57-seat vehicle rolled on its side and hit a guard rail in heavy fog, killing 10 wedding guests and injuring 25 ors, police alleged Tuesday.

Brett Andrew Button, 58, was driving 35 passengers on a 20-minute journey from a wedding reception at Wandin Estate Winery to town of Singleton, both in Hunter Valley wine region of New South Wales state, when 2009 Volvo bus rolled at a roundabout late Sunday.

Button h been in police custody but was released on bail when he appeared in a Cessnock court Tuesday charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving in relation to each death and one count of negligent driving.

Earlier, acting Police Assistant Commissioner David Wdell alleged that Button “entered that roundabout driving in a manner that was inconsistent with conditions.”

“Obviously, speed was too quick for him to negotiate that roundabout, causing vehicle to fall onto its left side and cause those injuries,” Wdell told reporters.

Police took Button to a hospital for mandatory blood and urine testing for drugs and alcohol Sunday night but said no impairment was detected.

It was Australia’s most dely ro accident since 1994, when a bus skidded on its side across a highway and down a steep embankment in Brisbane, killing 12 people and injuring 38.

Of 25 passengers taken to hospitals in latest indicent, 14 h not been discharged by Tuesday, with two remaining in an intensive care unit in critical but stable condition, Wdell said.

de and injured were aged from ir 20s to ir 60s, Wdell said.

He declined to comment on media reports that Button told passengers through bus’s microphone shortly before crash, “If you think that was fast ... watch this.”

Wdell also declined to comment on reports that passengers were standing moments before crash.

Linq Buslines, which provides school bus and event charters, owns bus involved in crash. Its website says all its buses are equipped with seatbelts.

New South Wales law requires bus passengers to use seatbelts if y are available.