Skifield bus crash . . . A weekend ski trip for Selwyn College hostel students went wrong this afternoon when their bus careered off the last corner of the Cardrona skifield road. Photo by Matthew Haggart
About 45 Selwyn College hostel residents were in the bus when its brakes appear to have failed on the last corner of the skifield road while travelling down the hill after the first day of a weekend ski trip.
No-one was seriously injured in the crash with eight people taken to the Wanaka Medical Centre for treatment. Three people sustained serious injuries, with the remaining injured passengers treated for minor scrapes.
Police and Cardrona Alpine Resort management have praised the actions of the bus driver, who narrowly managed to keep the 1986 Volvo bus from rolling after it smashed through a fence and into boggy ground near a creek.
Weather conditions at the time of the crash were clear, fine, and dry. The road had been graded that morning. A Police commercial vehicle crash unit was en route from Alexandra to
Cardrona to investigate the accident scene on Saturday evening.
One student who declined to give his name said the accident was freaky.
"A lot of people are feeling pretty shook up and in shock. My mate's over there and he's injured,'' the visibly shaken young man told the Otago Daily Times.
