Exclusive: The coach involved in a deadly bus crash in Queensland allegedly struck a guardrail a day earlier.
The FlixBus partner coach was travelling from Cairns to Airlie Beach when it rolled off the road near Gumlu, about 135 kilometres south of Townsville, on Thursday.
Argentine and Italian national Serena Andreatta was killed.
The 26-year-old had previously been travelling through Thailand and Vietnam before she made it to Australia.
One of the crash survivors, Erica Chindamo, told 9News she was sitting near Andreatta when the bus crashed.
“We didn’t know each other, we don’t know each other, but she was one of us,” Chindamo said.
“I don’t think as much as you see it you will ever be ready to see someone die.”
Chindamo said she was asleep during the trip when she heard a bump.
“We hit something and then after that I woke up laying on the broken windows,” she said.
“Someone picked me up, because I was laying on the floor and I had blood all over my face.”
Andreatta’s friend, Valentina Accardi, remains in Townsville University Hospital.
“I remember someone saying ‘I can’t find my friend’,” Chindamo said.
“That girl is not moving and she was literally three seats in front of me.”
Chindamo emphasised that she did not blame the driver.
“The driver was a lovely man, he was really kind, he was gentle,” she said.
“I just have concern that maybe he shouldn’t have been alone for a trip this long.”
FlixBus said it monitors driving and rest times, and runs regular checks on its partner operators.
A passenger travelling on the same coach with the same driver a day earlier claims the driver appeared sick and fatigued.
That passenger alleged the bus hit a guardrail before passengers began talking to the driver to keep him alert.
FlixBus told that passenger “we deeply apologise … the vehicle was not maintaining a steady lane” and added it was reviewing the incident.
The company told 9News it takes traveller concerns extremely seriously and the complaint was still being investigated.
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