The family of the truck driver charged over a horror bus crash that left several children severely injured with some requiring amputations has broken their silence about their devastation over the tragedy.
The mother of driver Jamie Gleeson, 49, whose large truck and trailer allegedly slammed into a coach carrying the primary school children on Tuesday afternoon told Daily Mail Australia her family was distraught about the incident.
‘We’re all pretty upset about it, but we can’t make a a statement at the moment,’ Chris Gleeson said.
‘We are feeling for the families of the children as well,’ Mrs Gleeson said, adding that Jamie’s father, legendary Victorian horse trotting driver and trainer, Ginger Gleeson, was too tied up with the disaster’s aftermath to speak.
Jamie Gleeson, the father of two sons with his wife Jacqui, is a car and sport shooting enthusiast and longtime truck driver from Balliang East near Bacchus Marsh west of Melbourne.
He was driving an ACT-registered truck and trailer when it collided an Exford Primary School bus carrying 45 kids at Eynesbury, in Melbourne’s west, at about 3.40pm on Tuesday.
Truck driver Jamie Gleeson, 49, (above) has been charged following the catastrophic bus crash which injured schoolchildren, one requiring surgery to amputate a limb
Ten children aged five to 11 suffered traumatic or serious injuries, one of them with catastrophic consequences, while Jamie Gleeson sustained minor injuries and is in police custody.
Police have charged Mr Gleeson and are investigating whether he was paying attention behind the wheel.
He was charged with four counts of dangerous driving cause serious injury and will front Melbourne Magistrates Court via video link on Wednesday.
Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse said he expected the truck driver to be hit with additional charges, but didn’t specify what they were.
Supt Cruse said many of the passer-bys and teachers who responded to the ‘confronting’ scene would have known the students involved.
‘The bus driver, despite being injured, I understand that he helped some of the children out of the bus,’ Mr Cruse told a press conference.
‘Then we had passers-by who have heroically stopped immediately and assisted in assisting the children who could be removed from the bus.
‘It was chaotic. It would have been very confronting for those passersby.’
Victoria Police Superintendent Michael Cruse and Exford Primary School Principal Lisa Campo addressed the media outside the school on Wednesday
A truck driver has been charged after a bus crash that left several children severely injured and awaiting amputations
Supt Cruse said ‘inattention’ was something police were actively investigating as well as if the truck driver had been speeding.
He said the school bus was fitted with seatbelts, but that he was unaware if the children had been wearing them.
Exford Primary School Principal Lisa Campo said she had initially thought the students had been in a minor crash.
Ms Campo said she and the majority of teaching staff rushed to the scene of the crash after receiving a call from a community member.
‘Myself, the assistant principal and our staff wrapped our arms around the kids. I know that we’re not supposed to have kids but that is they needed,’ she said.
Major Collision Investigation Unit Senior Sergeant Paul Lineham claimed the bus had been trying to turn right onto another road when it was hit from behind by the truck.
‘That may have lessened the actual impact of the truck itself,’ Lineham told 3AW.
‘We don’t use the term ‘lucky’ because obviously, there’s an incredibly unfortunate set of circumstances, but this had the potential to have multiple fatalities.’
Superintendent Cruse (pictured) said ‘inattention’ was something police were actively investigating as well as if the truck driver had been speeding
Children were trapped inside the bus before witnesses and emergency workers pulled them from the wreckage and took them to hospital
A Code Brown, an emergency response for hospitals anticipating mass causalities, was declared after the accident.
Specialist doctors were called in to perform emergency surgeries at the Royal Children’s Hospital after seven children were admitted and two discharged.
Several were treated for ‘degloving’ injuries which occurs when the top layers of skin are torn away from the underlying muscle, tissue or bone.
Students from Exford Primary School had been on their way home when a truck hit the school bus from behind.
Children were trapped inside the bus before witnesses and emergency workers were able to pull them from the wreckage and give assistance.
Parents faced an anxious wait overnight before finally being reunited with their children early Wednesday morning.
The seven children are still in a serious condition, with four undergoing surgery overnight, one in intensive care and another two going into theatre on Wednesday.
Bernadette McDonald, chief executive at Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital, said so far one child has had a complete limb amputation due to their injuries.
Students from Exford Primary School were going home when a truck hit the school bus from behind at Eynesbury, 44km west of the Melbourne CBD
The truck and school bus collided on the corner of Exford and Murphys Road at Eynesbury, about 44km west of Melbourne’s CBD
‘The children have suffered multiple and traumatic injuries including partial and complete amputations of arms, multiple crushed limb injuries, severe lacerations to head and body, head injuries and glass shard injuries,’ Ms McDonald told reporters.
‘Three patients are currently receiving spinal support and being monitored, carefully, in terms of spinal injuries.’
Multiple surgeons are in attendance including the hospital’s own doctors and vascular and specialist microplastic surgeons from Royal Melbourne Hospital.
‘You would understand with these sorts of injuries very small vessels need to be repaired and reattached,’ Ms McDonald said.
Many of the children will need to undergo multiple surgeries in the coming days and weeks and long-term rehabilitation therapy is likely.
Ms McDonald said the situation was very traumatic.
‘We have some very traumatised families and children in our hospital at the moment. We’re working extremely hard to provide that trauma support and care that they will need not just now but in the coming weeks and months,’ she said.
A Department of Education spokesman said a range of support measures were available for affected students, including counsellors (pictured is the crash site)
Counsellors are going to Exford Primary School to help students process the tragedy.
Premier Daniel Andrews said he had been in contact with the school’s principal Lisa Campo.
‘The reason I called Lisa last night and again this morning was just to make sure that she knew and understood that ‘whatever you ask for… the answer will be yes. We’re there for you’,’ he told reporters.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the crash was horrific.
‘My heart goes out to them and to their families at what must be an extraordinarily difficult time,’ he told reporters.
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