A GROUP of overseas tourists was lucky to escape serious injury after the bus they were travelling in rolled near Ballarat at the weekend.
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One passenger was airlifted to Melbourne with non-life-threatening injuries after the roll-over, which closed the Colac-Ballarat Road at Enfield Saturday afternoon.
The 22-seat vehicle was carrying 13 tourists travelling from Colac to Melbourne when it rolled and landed on its roof.
The group of tourists, from Hong Kong, were set to return home on Sunday.
An air ambulance arrived on the scene at 4pm to take one injured passenger to the Royal Melbourne.
The man, aged in his 20s, was in a serious but stable condition.
Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said three other passengers were taken to Ballarat Health Services Base Hospital for treatment.
Police on scene said seatbelts would have saved more passengers from serious injuries.
Enfield resident Anthony (who asked for his surname not to be published) was driving home when he saw the bus lose control after coming around the bend.
He turned into Woodlands Road to hear the bus roll and turned to see the impact, before calling 000.
Neighbour Travis Curtain was first on the scene, running outside after he heard the noise.
“The impact was unbelievable. I thought there must have been a few cars in a crash,” he said. He said it took less than a minute to remove uninjured passengers from the bus.
“I’ve lived here five years and there hasn’t been any other accidents on this corner that I know of,” he said. “It is a bit uneven when you come around the corner.”
Mr Curtain and his partner helped the passengers by providing towels for wounds, taking people to the toilet and providing shelter.
nicole.cairns@fairfaxmedia.com.au