A bus carrying a group of tourists in New Zealand rolled over halting just one metre from a steep cliff edge following a crash.
The tour vehicle collided with a car near Arthur’s Pass en route to Christchurch, causing ‘multi-trauma injuries’ to the 40 Asian tourists on board.
"When we arrived the bus was, thank God, still on the road. There’s not much outside of the road other than a straight drop to the bottom," said first responder Kerry Mitchell.
"If it had slid another metre and a half to the left it would have been very different."
The car involved was crushed into the hillside and the scene was described as ‘horrific’ by emergency services.
"The car didn’t look like a car anymore. It just looked like a mangled wreck. It was completely crushed, particularly in the front driver’s-side area. There were multi-trauma injuries, there were broken bones and there were some traumatic partial amputations," Kerry added.
Two tourists remain in a critical condition in hospital alongside another five who are classed as seriously injured.
