GUMLU, Queensland — A bus crash on one of Queensland’s most dangerous highways has left one woman dead and ten people still fighting in hospital — and now serious questions are being raised about the road, the bus company, and how many more lives will be lost before something changes.
The FlixBus coach was travelling south from Cairns to Airlie Beach when it left the road and rolled near Gumlu, around 135 kilometres south of Townsville, overnight.
Queensland Ambulance paramedics rushed to the scene and assessed 29 passengers. The 70-year-old driver was among the injured, suffering minor injuries.
The wounded were taken to hospitals in Ayr, Bowen and Townsville.
One passenger — a woman from Argentina — later died from her injuries in hospital.
A Scene Described as ‘Confronting and Complex’
Superintendent Dean Cavanagh said the emergency response was one of the most challenging he had seen.
A large number of foreign nationals were on board, which complicated both the investigation and efforts to contact and support families back home.
“We’ll make sure at the end of this investigation we look at not only what happened, but importantly why it happened,” Cavanagh said.
The Forensic Crash Unit is now leading the investigation and has urged any witnesses to come forward. The highway was closed in both directions following the crash but has since reopened.
The Same Stretch of Road Has Killed Before
What makes this crash even more alarming is where it happened.
The rollover occurred near the same location where a Greyhound bus crashed in 2024, killing three women.
This is not a coincidence. This is a pattern.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said the state’s most vital transport route is simply not safe enough.
“I don’t think the road is up to scratch,” he said.
“When you think that we’ve had over 40 people lose their life in a calendar year on a road like that, if that doesn’t scream the need for action then I don’t know what does.”
FlixBus Now Under the Spotlight
This crash has also put FlixBus itself under intense scrutiny.
In February this year, a 55-year-old FlixBus driver was fined for careless driving after a coach veered into a paddock at Alligator Creek, near Townsville.
That is two serious incidents involving the same company on the same regional corridor in just a few months.
FlixBus released a statement saying the company was “heartbroken” and that its thoughts were with the victim’s family, friends and loved ones “during this incredibly difficult time.”
But for many, words are no longer enough.
Families Waiting. Questions Growing.
Tonight, families of the injured — many of them overseas — are waiting for answers about their loved ones.
Investigators are piecing together exactly what caused the driver to lose control. Weather, road conditions, speed and fatigue are all likely to be examined.
With more than 40 deaths on this stretch of highway in just one year, pressure is mounting on both Queensland’s government and the transport industry to act — before the next family gets the call no one ever wants to receive.
Do you think enough is being done to make Queensland’s highways safer? Share your thoughts in the comments — this conversation needs to happen.
