The sole victim of a horror bus crash in Queensland has been identified as a young Argentine-Italian tourist who was on the trip of a lifetime.

Serena Andreatta, 26, had been travelling through Thailand and Vietnam with a friend before her life was tragically cut short in North Queensland this week.

Ms Andreatta had been on a charter coach, travelling from Cairns to Airlie Beach, when it rolled off the Bruce Highway near Gumlu in Queensland’s Whitsundays.

There were 29 people on the FlixBus bus when it crashed about 4pm on Thursday, including the driver, a 70-year-old man who was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

Ms Andreatta sadly died from her injuries in hospital later that night.

Two other passengers suffered life-threatening injuries and remain in hospital as of Saturday morning. The driver, a Mackay man, has been released from hospital.

Queensland Premier David Crisafulli said Ms Andreatta had been in ‘her prime’.

‘Someone in the prime of their life, on the trip of a lifetime, in another country, has lost their life,’ he told ABC News on Friday.

+4
View gallery

The sole victim of a horror bus crash in Queensland has been identified as a young Argentine-Italian tourist who was on the trip of a lifetime in Australia

+4
View gallery

The charter coach rolled off the Bruce Highway near Gumlu in Queensland’s Whitsundays

‘You’ve got young people in many cases living out their dream in a foreign country and to have something like this happen, I can only imagine what that feels like for the parents and families, in many cases, on the other side of the globe.’

FlixBus has since claimed the driver was not speeding and tested negative for drugs and alcohol after undergoing mandatory testing.

Queensland Police are yet to confirm the company’s claims.

Officers are still working to determine how the fatal crash unfolded.

Superintendent Dean Cavanagh told reporters on Friday that the majority of the passengers onboard were tourists from overseas.

‘It was a very complex incident, a very serious incident,’ he said.

Supt Cavanagh said members of the public had provided police with ‘direct evidence’ and dashcam footage of the incident.

He would not speculate about the cause of the crash, saying the forensic crash unit would investigate the complex incident that had occurred in an isolated area.

+4
View gallery

Serena Andreatta, 26, had been travelling through Thailand and Vietnam with a friend before her life was tragically cut short in North Queensland this week

+4
View gallery

Flixbus has since claimed the driver tested negative to drugs and alcohol after the crash

Twenty-eight people were taken to hospital after Thursday’s crash, including two in life-threatening conditions who were transported to Townsville University Hospital.

The crash occurred near the site of a collision involving a Greyhound bus that killed three female passengers and seriously injured others in June 2024.

Queensland Transport Minister Brent Mickelberg said the incident underlined the need for upgrades to the highway.

‘It’s why we’ve fought so hard to get an 80/20 funding deal with the federal government and $9billion of investment on the Bruce Highway to make it safer,’ he told reporters on the Gold Coast.

‘All of that money is being spent north of Gympie and south of Cairns on stretches of road like the one the tragic incident occurred on yesterday.’

Crisafulli said the safety needed to be improved on the major transport route.

‘I don’t think the road is up to scratch,’ the premier said.

‘When you think that we’ve had over 40 people lose their life in a calendar year on a road like that, if that doesn’t scream the need for action then I don’t know what does.’