At least 15 people were murdered on Thursday in the Canadian prairie province of Manitoba after a semi-trailer truck collided with a small bus carrying mostly elderly people, police said.
The crash is one of the deadliest in modern Canadian history.
The crash happened near the hamlet of Carberry in southwestern Manitoba, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) west of Winnipeg. According to CBC News, the bus passengers were on their way to a casino in Carberry, according to a casino representative.
At the hospital, ten more victims were being treated. The drivers of both vehicles were alive, according to police, who declined to specify who was at fault for the incident.
Media reports initially identified the vehicle as a van rather than a bus. They said it was operated by Handi-Transit, which transports the elderly and those with disabilities.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation showed a still photo of a white minivan-sized vehicle that had been burned out. It also showed a picture of a blue truck with a smashed-in front.
Wheelchairs and crumpled walkers remained near tarpaulins covering bodies at the site, the Winnipeg Free Press said.
In a tweet, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he sent his “deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones today, and I’m keeping the injured in my thoughts. I cannot imagine the pain those affected are feeling,” he said.
“My heart broke hearing the news of the tragic accident near Carberry,” Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said on Twitter.
In neighboring Saskatchewan, 16 people died in April 2018 after a truck hit a bus transporting a junior hockey team on a rural road. The truck driver was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2019.
The worst traffic accident in Canadian history occurred in 1997, when a bus carrying seniors plunged into a ravine in the province of Quebec, killing 44 people.
Reuters
