Excursion bus crash near akaroa

[kiwijohn]

A bus carrying 32 people from Celebrity Solitice collided with a car and crashed down steep wooded hillside while returning from Christchurch to Akaroa at 5pm tonight. 20 people were injured, 7 seriously and were taken to Christchurch Hospital. People had to clamber out of broken windows to get out. Celebrity Solitice has been delayed in Akaroa.

[Krazy Kruizers]

So sorry to hear this.

Hope all those that were injured recover quickly.

[puppycanducruise]

Thank you for sharing this info.

I hope the injured have speedy recoveries and enjoy the rest of the cruise.

[kazu]

Oh dear.

 

Hope everyone injured recovers quickly. What a scary experience!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

I hope all get well soon.

[summer slope]

Prayers for all involved.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[ger_77]

Oh my gosh, how awful. Thanks for sharing the info with us.

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[gigianne]

Good friends of ours are on the cruise.

[fla742]

Hope it was a ship's tour.

[AZNative2000]

How awful. Hope everyone makes it back to the ship. :eek:

[serendipity1499]

Hope it was a ship's tour.

 

:(OH MY, What an awful thing to say!

[wander]

Serendipity,

Your comment puzzles me. My first thought was "how sad" and my feelings for the passengers. My second thought also was that I hope it was a ship's tour (versus an independent one) as well. Why - liability insurance coverage and potential ease of getting expenses covered.

 

According to OP it was passengers from a Celebrity ship, so that is a given. Now you have been on CC enough that you certainly have heard about the difference in ship sponsored tours and private tours in terms of liability coverage and ease of claims versus independently contracted tours. I think that that is what the poster was thinking of, for the sake of the injured folks.

 

Now, getting reimbursement payment from any insurance company can be trying, but I would rather have do deal through a cruise line than a small, independent tour provider with uncertain insurance coverage for such an unfortunate event in a foreign country. JMO

[Lady Arwen]

Hope it was a ship's tour.

Really! Not nice.

[Vict0riann]

Very sad - but I would imagine it is a ship's tour if the ship is staying in Akaroa - I understood (on HAL) that if a private tour is delayed, the ship would leave without them, although the situation may be completely different with this sort of accident.

[shrimp56]

Very sad - but I would imagine it is a ship's tour if the ship is staying in Akaroa - I understood (on HAL) that if a private tour is delayed, the ship would leave without them, although the situation may be completely different with this sort of accident.

I would hope they would stay as there might be relatives on the ship who didn't go on that tour.

If you read the not so fine print HAL claims no responsibility for the tour. You are probably left with the tour provider for compensation. I also was led to believe that the shorex dept. is a run by an outside company. (I can't think of the correct word for that)

[OlsSalt]

This is a terrible incident to report. I hope we can keep getting updated as to the outcome.

 

Reminder to that getting travel and medical evacuation insurance that includes family and companions is always a good choice. Very affordable when using organizations like DAN - comes with the price of annual membership to this "scuba diving" group. It covers non-diving incidents too, starting 50 miles from home.

[chees]

From NZ Herald:

Meanwhile the cruise company had sent members of its care team to Christchurch to offer immediate support and assistance to the injured passengers.

"All other guests have returned to the ship. Our thoughts and prayers are with all those involved and we hope for their speedy recovery," said the company.

Here is the link to the article: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11805857

 

Tina

[kiwijohn]

The medical expenses and other related expenses of all people including tourists in New Zealand injured by accident are covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation. Of course this does not cover medical evacuation to places outside the country. This also means that injured people cannot sue the person or persons causing the accident in New Zealand. All companies in New Zealand and all vehicle owners have to contribute to the scheme.

[Scrapnana]

Prayers to all involved. Always sad to hear about such incidents.

[gigianne]

I do have an update from my friend who is on the cruise. 6 of the 51 passengers on the bus remain in hospital in Christchurch with ships personnel staying with them. The accident happened on a windy road and the bus went about 50m down a hill. My friends were travelling in a van behind the bus.

[OlsSalt]

From the NZHerald new story:...."Tragedy has struck Celebrity Solstice on New Zealand roads three times in the past few months.

A Canadian passenger from the ship was severely injured when he was hit by a campervan while cycling with his partner on Otago Peninsula nearly two weeks ago.

And an elderly American woman was killed in November while riding a bike in Tauranga the day the ship arrived in the city.

 

The same afternoon a bus carrying ship passengers collided with a car on State Highway 29. The car's driver died, but nobody on the bus was injured."

[shrimp56]

The medical expenses and other related expenses of all people including tourists in New Zealand injured by accident are covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation. Of course this does not cover medical evacuation to places outside the country. This also means that injured people cannot sue the person or persons causing the accident in New Zealand. All companies in New Zealand and all vehicle owners have to contribute to the scheme.

Good to hear that there is a system and a reminder to get that insurance.

[erewhon]

According to the stuff.co.nz website, four tourists have been discharged from Christchurch hospital and rejoined the ship today (Thursday) in Port Chalmers (Dunedin).