Central Australian tourism operator Patrick Bedford charged over fatal tour bus crash

Patrick Bedford, a prominent tourism operator in Central Australia, has been charged over a fatal tour bus crash earlier this year, which killed a passenger and seriously injured several others.

In a statement issued yesterday, Northern Territory Police said they had arrested and charged a 43-year-old man in Alice Springs on Wednesday with two counts of negligently causing serious harm.

At the time of the incident, Northern Territory Police said the bus, which was carrying 19 people from interstate, had rolled multiple times.

One passenger - a 69-year-old man - died at the scene, and multiple others were seriously injured and taken to Alice Springs Hospital for treatment. The other passengers and the driver received lacerations and bruising.

As reported by the ABC, Bedford, who owns and operates the Emu Run Experience tour company and is also the Chairman of Tourism Central Australia, yesterday faced the Alice Springs Local Court.

The Northern Territory Police prosecutor told the Court the bus still had to be examined by an expert and that numerous statements had to be taken.

He added there was a chance that an industrial manslaughter charge could potentially be laid in the future.

Further details about the alleged offences were not disclosed in Court.

Bedford's defence lawyer, Luke Gardiner, asked the Court to allow his client's bail conditions to be amended so that he could travel overseas to attend tourism conferences and a charity ride over the next six weeks.

Gardiner advised "at no point has his intention to travel overseas been obscured from police, in fact they've been aware of it.

"On his instructions, there was a tacit agreement that upon his return, if there was to be an interview (with Northern Territory Police) it would be held between his trip to US and a subsequent trip to Thailand.

Judge David Bamber agreed to the request on the proviso that Bedford provide a $10,000 surety.

Northern Territory Police has said it expects to lay "additional charges related to the death of a passenger and other injured passengers" at a later stage.

Image: An Emu Run Experience bus in the Northern Territory's Palm Valley. Credit: Emu Run Experience/Facebook.