Updated September 24, 2026 — 6:48pm,first published 4:15pm

A woman has died and several people have been seriously injured after a V/Line coach and two cars collided on the Melba Highway north-east of Melbourne.

A white car, a blue Toyota and the bus, which was a scheduled service travelling to Southern Cross Station from Mansfield, crashed near Glenburn about 2.40pm on Thursday.

The driver of the white car, a yet-to-be-identified woman, died at the scene.

Images from the aftermath show the white car crushed beyond recognition, with its front and sides obliterated.

The impact of the collision caused the bus to run off the road and down an embankment.

Four bus passengers were seriously injured, including a teenage boy who was airlifted to hospital with upper body injuries. A man aged in his 50s was taken to hospital in a serious condition.

A teenage girl is in a stable condition at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Another young male is in hospital with upper body injuries. All 18 people on the bus, including the driver, were assessed by paramedics.

The driver and passenger of the blue Toyota both sustained minor injuries. Pictures show the vehicle sprawled on the side of the road with its windows shattered.

Police said an investigation into the incident was ongoing with Major Collision Investigation Unit detectives still at the scene.

“A specialist Air Ambulance Victoria helicopter (HEMS) crew, and multiple Mobile Intensive Care Ambulance (MICA) and Advanced Life Support (ALS) paramedic crews are assessing multiple patients at the scene,” Ambulance Victoria said in a statement.

The bus was operated by Mee’s Bus Lines and departed Mansfield about 1.30pm.

General manager Roger Mee said the company was in the process of contacting the relevant authorities.

“We’re aware of the accident and emergency services are attending at the moment; we’ve got staff attending as well,” Mee said. “At this stage we’re still in a response mode.”

Steve Waters was travelling with friends from Yarck back to Melbourne when they came upon the scene, just as police were arriving. He first noticed something was wrong when the cars in front of his started flashing their warning lights.

“We saw a small white vehicle on the right-hand side, it basically looked like it had been cut in half,” he said.

“It was a real mess and really crushed in … the engine was in front of the car.”

Further down the road, he saw the bus, which had crashed through the roadside railing and several eucalyptus trees before coming to rest down an embankment.

“The roof looked to be almost ripped off. So there was a bit of carnage on the left side before the bus actually stopped. There were people that were off the bus, a lot just standing around.”

Premier Ben Carroll described the event as a “terrible accident” in a statement released after the crash.

“Our thoughts are with everyone involved, their families and loved ones,” Carroll wrote.

“Emergency services are working hard at the scene and will provide further information as soon as possible.”

The Melba Highway was recently ranked Victoria’s sixth-most dangerous country road in an RACV survey. In a separate crash on Monday, a driver was killed following a collision with a truck on the same stretch of road.

The highway remained closed in both directions between Castella and Yea as of late Thursday.

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A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that a man had died in the accident based on initial information from Victoria Police.