KEY POINTS:
PERTH - A coach full of elderly people on a day trip has crashed and rolled in Western Australia's south, killing one woman and seriously injuring 13 other people.
At least five passengers were trapped and had to be cut free of the wreckage of the coach which
was carrying 37 people when it rolled on a popular tree-lined tourist route 76km south of Manjimup just after midday (WDT).
Four Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) aircraft and 14 ambulances from surrounding towns sped to the scene to attend to the injured and ferry them to hospitals in surrounding towns.
The 13 seriously injured patients, aged between 72 and 89, were all suffering from a variety of chest and spinal injuries, fractures and breathing difficulties, RFDS spokeswoman Lesleigh Green said.
Eight were ferried to Perth by three RFDS aircraft and the Fire and Emergency Service's Rescue Helicopter and were taken to various hospitals, including the Royal Perth and Sir Charles Gairdner, she said.
Poor weather conditions meant four others had to be taken by road ambulance to Bunbury.
Three of those patients will then be flown by the RFDS to Perth, while one remains in Bunbury Hospital.
One seriously injured patient will remain at Manjimup, she said.
Because the patients were elderly, these injuries could become much worse over the next 48 hours, she said.
The bus was carrying mostly elderly members of a Returned Services League (RSL) branch in Perth.
"They were from an RSL nursing home from Perth on a day out," she said.
The accident happened on the South West Highway near the old township of Shannon, a route lined with old and tall trees.
"It was pretty messy," Shire councillor and volunteer ambulance officer Paul Owens told the Fairfax Radio Network.
"There (was) a fairly long line of people sitting on the side of the road with various injuries, from unconscious to broken limbs and major lacerations.
"And there was probably about five or six people still trapped inside the bus," Mr Owens said, after he arrived at the Manjimup District Hospital.
Holes were cut in the vehicle to get passengers out, Mr Owens said.
"It was off the highway on its side and we retrieved most casualties out through the front window.
"We cut a hole in the back of the bus there and also there's an emergency exit in the roof which we took them out the side of as well."
Bunbury district police Superintendent Mick Sutherland said communication with emergency services and police had been difficult because of a lack of mobile coverage.
Passers-by stopped to offer the injured a lift and take them to hospital, police said.
"A lot of people went in private motor vehicles and were taken in to Manjimup," Supt Sutherland said.
The major crash squad was at the scene conducting investigations.
"The major concern is to make sure everyone is taken in to hospital and make sure that they're all accounted for," Supt Sutherland said.
- AAP