January 12, 2019
A young man died and 10 others, including children, were injured in a crash between a bus and a car, a paramedic says.
Intensive care paramedic Chris Deacon was among dozens of first responders who rushed to Gowing Dr in the Auckland suburb of Meadowbank after an Audi car and a bus from the Go Bus company collided at 11.30am.
Deacon, who is from the Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust, said the male driver of the car, who he believed was aged in his late 20s, was quickly found to have died in the crash.
So Deacon helped St John Ambulance officers with the injured, including five young children on a "day out".
Bus passengers were assessed under the car port of a neighbouring home and video from the crash scene showed an ambulance officer carrying a toddler to an ambulance.
The kids, aged between about 2 and 7, were with an adult who was mum to three and looking after the other two, he said.
"She protected the baby with her own arm, so she had some quite bad bruising."
St John Ambulance said in a tweet after the crash one person was seriously injured in the crash, another had moderate injuries and eight had minor injuries.
Deacon said at least one adult bus passenger likely suffered a fracture — to an ankle — but other bus passengers escaped with bumps and bruises.
One child on the bus was also sent to hospital to be assessed, he said.
"[The child] was sucking on an ice-block so looked reasonable content, but was quiet, and had gone skidding along the floor of the bus, so went to hospital to be checked."
Deacon didn't see the driver of the bus, but helped the passenger of the car. Only two people were in the car at the time of the crash, he said.
The man, aged in his late 20s, had suffered broken bones.
He was conscious and talking as he was asked questions about what sport he
played — cricket — as part of the assessment, Deacon said.
The man, who was taken to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition, told Deacon he was from Auckland but didn't say what his relationship was to the driver of the car.
"I think he was unaware that his mate was dead."
The Gowing Dr and Cruickshank Cres intersection was closed following the crash.
A police spokeswoman said at 2pm the Serious Crash Unit was at the scene and the closure was likely to continue for a few hours.
A Go Bus manager told the Herald earlier that he was on his way to the scene and didn't have more information.
According to Auckland Transport's website bus no. 782 is the only bus that travels along the section of Gowing Dr where the crash occurred.
