An Australian woman holidaying in Italy who was involved in a fatal bus crash has taken to social media in a desperate bid to find a fellow passenger and gain clarity from the vehicle’s company.
Sinead Curry took to TikTok to ask followers for help and media attention after she was left in hospital due to the crash.
“In the wee hours of the morning, we caught a FlixBus from Bari station,” she recalled in a TikTok video.
“Less than two hours later, the bus hit something. We were all asleep, and it hit something.
“It went airborne, spun around a bunch of times — we were all being flung around, like in a blender — and landed down in an embankment, I think on the other side of the road.”
She said cars passing by proceeded to hit the bus, pushing it further along the road.
Her claims were corroborated by the regional fire and rescue department’s Twitter, which reported five cars and a bus were involved in a crash which killed one man.
Sinead told ABC News she and the surviving passengers had crawled out of the bus and sheltered behind it as cars passing by rammed it for half an hour.
“We crawled under the broken window, in the mud to get out.
“We were sheltering behind the bus, and then the cars started to hit the bus. We had to wait at least half an hour for anyone to come. Everyone was screaming in their native language.”
Sinead said she was one of three Australians on the bus that she knew of, the other two being her partner and a woman called Katie. She said Katie had broken her collarbone, but was not in the hospital, and that Sinead didn’t know what was happening or where Katie was.
In a tearful update, a distraught Sinead said none of FlixBus’ contact numbers were working, and that she and other passengers who had “nearly died” were left in the dark with no information.
She said the only contact they had from the company was a text which offered them a “meal replacement voucher” worth 10 euros “for the inconvenience”. JFC.
In a follow-up video, Sinead accused FlixBus of blocking her on social media and revealed she was yet to be contacted about the crash.
According to ABC News, it took nine hours for Sinead to get her luggage — which she said was damaged due to the severity of the crash.
“When someone from FlixBus turned up, he was happy-go-lucky, making jokes,” she told the publication.
“All of us are scarred for life.
“We had no food, no water, no support until the local fire service took us in.
“Those who survived need to be offered adequate financial compensation for this near-fatal, permanently harmful traumatic event.”
FlixBus sent a statement to ABC News disputing Sinead’s claims that it didn’t take care of passengers who were traumatised by the Italy bus crash.
“FlixBus is maintaining close contact to all authorities on site and closely cooperating with them to investigate the causes of the event,” a spokeswoman said.
“FlixBus has provided a support line and email for passengers and their families. Outbound calls were made to passengers who had registered their mobile numbers, and emails were sent to passengers with instructions.
“At all times, the safety of its passengers and drivers is of highest priority to FlixBus.”
Except, according to Sinead, the text messages she received were in relation to the meal voucher and a telephone helpline. She said the email in question was also in regards to the telephone line — specifically that it wasn’t working due to technical issues.
Sinead said she has now reached Rome and is safe, but she and other passengers were still finding shrapnel in their bodies hours after the incident.
Image: TikTok / Sinead Curry
