Minibus blamed for horror bus crash

The husband of a British woman who died in the devastating Austrian bus crash was grieving in intensive care tonight as the couple’s three teenage children recovered in a separate hospital.

A reckless minibus was the cause of the accident in which a coach full of British tourists swerved off a mountain road and plummeted 60 metres.

The woman, thought to be in her 40s, was among five Britons killed when the vehicle rolled three times and ended on its roof in a mangled heap.

Dozens more were injured in yesterday’s disaster near the town of Hallein, 25km from Salzburg.

Dr Alois Karlbauer, head of one the main hospitals in Salzburg Unfallkrankenhaus, said they had failed to resuscitate the woman late last night.

“This dead lady is the wife of one of our patients,” he said. “Now she has been identified, she was British.”

He said the couple’s children would be transferred from the city’s other major hospital, the Landeskrankenhaus, tomorrow.

“The three children who at this time are still in the Landeskrankenhaus will be transferred here tomorrow in order to be together in close contact with their dad.”

He said the father, who was too upset to talk, was in intensive care and in a “stable condition”.

“But he has to undergo at least one more surgery,” he added.

Horror turned to disbelief as police revealed a minibus overtook the bus on a blind corner and then shunted it off the road as the driver tried to avoid an oncoming car.

The preliminary findings came from Dr Klaus Aigner, the district police captain in Hallein.

Drug and alcohol tests were carried out on all three drivers involved, but all proved negative.

Harald Hofmann, from the Federal Police in Salzburg, said the bus, the van and the car had all been confiscated by the Public Prosecutor for investigation.

Local emergency services said the five who died were British, but the names were not being released until DNA tests had been carried out, holiday tour operators Inghams said tonight.

Survivors told of the terrifying moment when the accident happened at 4.30pm local time (3.30pm Irish time) yesterday.

Don Astley, 57, and his 16-year-old son Ian were thrown clear as the bus rolled, but wife and mother Glennys remained inside the wreckage and suffered spinal injuries.

The family, from Bolton in Greater Manchester, became separated when they were treated in different hospitals.

But because Ian was less seriously hurt, he was transferred to the same hospital as his father in Salzburg and reunited today.

Mrs Astley was still being treated across the border in Germany.

Ian said: “I was asleep at the time and I heard a girl scream. It was really loud and it woke me up.

“The next thing I knew the bus tipped over – it rolled over once and I was thrown out and then it rolled off down the hill.

“I was in a daze afterwards. I remember going down and trying to help. My mum was still trapped inside.”

Mr Astley, who lay in his hospital bed with both legs bandaged, said he was “reading the football scores” when the bus crashed.

“I was thrown out just before it made the final turn,” said the retired health studies lecturer.

A total of 49 people were on board the bus – 42 Britons, three Germans, two Russians, an Australian tour guide and an Austrian driver when disaster struck.

Inghams, based in south-west London, flew 20 concerned relatives out to Austria today to join their family.

The tourist group was returning from a visit to a salt mine at Berchtesgaden, where Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler had his alpine retreat when tragedy struck.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and one air ambulance pilot described the aftermath “like a war zone”.

Doctors and medics treated victims at the scene as other rescue workers cut trapped passengers out of the wreckage.

All of those on board the coach were freed within about an hour of the accident, but many of those pulled out were unconscious.

Briton Peter Davies was hailed a hero after he crawled through a window in the wreckage and ran to the front of the coach to switch off the ignition as diesel poured into the road.

The 27-year-old factory worker, from Bridgnorth, Shropshire, then tried to help other passengers including his girlfriend, Emma Jones, 30, who suffered a broken leg and jaw in the crash.

He told reporters: “I heard a screech and a bang. Then we slid off the road and the ground was flying towards us. It was all a blur and going round and round.”

His father Alan Davies, 55, said: “We are very proud of him. He turned off the ignition on the engine and stayed with Emma until the emergency services cut her out of the wreckage.”

Lorraine Newman who was with her three sons added: “It was awful. We were flipping over and over.

"It seemed to go on forever.”

The most seriously hurt were taken to two of Salzburg’s largest hospitals, the Unfallkrankenhaus and Landeskrankenhaus.

Tonight, seven Britons were at Unfallkrankenhaus where the grieving widow was in intensive care, while 10 Brits were still being cared for at Landeskrankenhaus.

The British tourists had all been staying in the lake resorts of Traunkirchen, Fuschl and St Wolfgang, said Inghams spokeswoman Linsey Devon.

She went on: “Our thoughts are with those who have been involved in the accident and we wish to extend our deepest sympathies to them and their relatives and friends.

“We would like also to pay a special tribute to the superb work of the Austrian emergency services.”

The company revealed that the tourists on the bus had flown from Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow, Southampton and London Gatwick airports.

Ms Devon said none of the Britons involved in the crash had yet said they wanted to return to the UK.

Inghams Travel is a tour operator specialising in ski and lakes and mountains holidays and was founded 70 years ago.