A picture of a bride and groom cutting their wedding cake just hours before a bus crash killed ten of their guests has surfaced online.
As previously reported, Maddy Edsell and Mitchell Gaffney - who are high school sweethearts and football players for their respective teams - tied the knot at Wandin Valley Estate in the Hunter Valley on Sunday (June 11) afternoon.
As the newlyweds' nuptials ended late at night, a coach was scheduled to take about 45 of their guests from the venue to Singleton - a town a 30-minute drive away - at around 11:30 PM.
However, approximately 17 minutes into the journey to guests' accommodation, the 2009 Volvo B7R rolled over on Wine Country Drive at Greta, New South Wales, and reportedly left ten people dead, while 25 others were injured and taken to hospital.
Police officials revealed on the following day (June 12) that the 58-year-old bus driver named Brett Andrew Button has been charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, including drive manner dangerous, and negligent driving (occasioning death), as reported by News.com.au.
According to The Sun, the driver was taken to the hospital for mandatory drug and alcohol testing, which came back negative, and sustained minor injuries.
In addition to this, police commissioner Karen Webb said the site of the crash is "still an active crime scene," adding: "We've got forensics officers processing the crime scene, we've got crash investigation unit officers, we've got rescue officers [on scene]," per BBC News.
Pictures from inside the fairytale wedding have since emerged on social media, with one particular snap showing the couple excitedly cutting their cake at their reception.
Their MC, local reporter Alex Tigani, is also captured in the photo talking to the crowd via a microphone as a live band plays in the background. It is understood that he is among the injured currently receiving care at the John Hunter Hospital.
His mother Loretta Tigani spoke with the Herald Sun about the tragedy and stated that the crash site resembled a "devastating war scene" and added that her son was "very upset" after watching his friends pass away in the crash.
"They’re monitoring him for concussion, he was covered with other people’s blood," Loretta told the outlet. "For him being the local reporter you get to know everyone."
"He was very emotional because he’s seen a lot of his mates die. It’s a small town so everybody knows each other," she added.
The bride and groom were high-profile footballers stars, with Gaffney playing Singleton Roosters while Edsell was an ever-present player for the Hunter Valley women's team before moving to Melbourne to link up with the Roosterettes.
Prior to moving away, Gaffney played for the Warrandyte cricket club, in the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Per The Guardian, roughly eight players from the team - along with five of their partners - were in the Hunter Valley for his wedding.
The club president, Royce Jaksic, opened up about the devastating incident and said that there was some uncertainty about the number of those injured. However, he disclosed that no one associated with the club had lost their lives or suffered life-threatening injuries.
"We probably had 13 or 14 people on the bus out of 37, for that to be the case is just a blessing," he told Guardian Australia. "Someone was looking after them."
Jaksic revealed that he was not president when Gaffney played at the club, but expressed that it was clear that the groom's family are "certainly well-loved in the community".
"They’ve been stalwarts in the community for a long period of time," he continued. "Just goes to show that, five or six years later, we’ve got a heap of guys going up to the Hunter Valley to celebrate his wedding. So well respected, well-loved young man."
The driver has been denied bail and is set to appear in court on Tuesday (June 13).
Our hearts continue to go out to the family and friends who lost their loved ones.
