‘Our hearts are broken’ Fifteen dead, 10 injured after seniors bus collides with semi-trailer on Trans-Canada By: Katie May, Chris Kitching, Tyler Searle Posted: 1:49 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 15, 2023 Last Modified: 10:13 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 15, 2023 Updates

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A seniors bus outing to a rural casino on a clear June day ended with 15 people dead and 10 seriously injured after a fiery crash on the Trans-Canada Highway, in a case that echoed the shocking Humboldt Broncos bus tragedy in Saskatchewan.

“Sadly, this is a day in Manitoba and across Canada that will be remembered as one of tragedy and incredible sadness. I want to express my deepest condolences on behalf of the RCMP to every family member who is grieving today,” RCMP Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill said.

Law enforcement and health-care officials were visibly moved at a news briefing five hours after the crash — one of the deadliest in Canada in recent history — near Carberry.

The seniors, who were from Dauphin and the surrounding area, were on a bus trip to Sand Hills Casino, 170 kilometres west of Winnipeg, when it collided with a semi-trailer just before noon Thursday.

The bus was described as a handi-transit type of vehicle.

“I also want to acknowledge there are many people in Dauphin and the surrounding areas anxiously awaiting news about a loved one. To all those waiting, I can’t imagine how difficult it is not knowing if the person you love the most will be making it home tonight,” said Hill.

Officials went to great pains to comfort families, who still hadn’t been told who was among the dead, saying they would work as quickly as they could to provide information.

“Answers will take some time, but I assure you RCMP will get the answers,” said Manitoba RCMP Supt. Rob Lasson, adding it was too early to assign blame.

“There could be a criminal element to this investigation. We need to get everything right.”

The drivers of both vehicles survived and were being treated in hospital. Survivors were taken to four hospitals, including Brandon and Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, officials said.

Police said it would take time to positively identify the dead, and officers were working with the help of the medical examiner.

RCMP said the semi-trailer was heading eastbound on Highway 1 and the seniors’ vehicle was headed southbound on Highway 5.

The bus had crossed the westbound lanes of Highway 1, and was crossing the eastbound lanes when it was struck by the semi.

The tragedy brought back memories of the 2018 collision that killed 16 people and injured 13 when the Humboldt junior hockey team’s bus was struck by a semi on a rural Saskatchewan highway.

Manitoba officers would be assisted by their Saskatchewan counterparts, including some of the primary investigators who responded to the 2018 crash, RCMP said.

A family support centre had been set up at a Lutheran church in Dauphin to provide support to area families.

While Premier Heather Stefanson didn’t attend the news conference, she offered condolences. The Manitoba government said flags at the legislature had been lowered to half-mast.

“Our hearts are broken and our thoughts are with the families,” deputy premier Cliff Cullen told the news conference. Everyone involved would be offered crisis support mental health services in the hours and days ahead, he said.

The mass casualties prompted hospitals in Winnipeg and Brandon to declare a code orange alert, which lasted for nearly five hours.

ER nurses lined up in halls to receive patients, surgery teams cleared slates, and the health system took an all-hands-on-deck approach, said Jennifer Cumpsty, HSC executive director of acute health services.

“Paramedics and first responders spend their entire careers preparing for a day like this, hoping it will never come. Today, it came, and all of them did their jobs with the utmost skill and professionalism,” Cumpsty said, offering her condolences to victims’ families.

No patients were sent to hospitals out of province.

Following the collision, the bus could be seen in a ditch; the truck had stopped on the shoulder of the highway. The roof of the small bus had burned off.

Tarps covered bodies in seven or eight locations. Wheelchairs and crumpled walkers remained near the tarps. A stop sign had been knocked down.

Lasson declined to speak about the condition of the crash site out of respect for the families, he said.

“The biggest challenge on these types of investigations is just to keep emotions in check for police officers. There’s a lot of grieving, a lot of hurt going on,” he said.

Twelve ambulances and at least one air ambulance were dispatched to the scene, which closed down the Trans-Canada in both directions for hours.

William Doherty, CEO of Day & Ross, the New Brunswick transport company that owns the truck, didn’t have more details on the crash but offered his condolences.

“All of us at Day & Ross are heartbroken by the tragic news out of Manitoba this afternoon,” he said in a statement. “The thoughts of the entire Day & Ross team are with those who have lost loved ones.”

Brandon resident Tracy Leitch was driving west on Highway 1 when she saw smoke billowing in the air. She passed the scene moments later.

“(The bus) was burnt right to the ground,” said Leitch, who was driving to the U.S. “I was in shock a little bit, and almost wanted to start crying. I felt sorry for all the people involved and the families. Just heartbroken.”

Nirmesh Vadera, who works at the Robin’s Nest Hotel and Cafe near the intersection, went outside to see what was happening after noticing emergency services vehicles.

Firefighters were trying to extinguish the bus fire, while the injured were tended to, he said.

“It was horrible to see. I’ve never seen that kind of (crash). It’s really hard to describe how bad it was,” he said, adding collisions occasionally occur at the intersection.

“The junction is really bad.”

All available resources in western Manitoba had been deployed to assist first responders, and officers in its major crime services had taken control of the investigation, RCMP said.

Caroline Bleackley, a trucker from B.C. who was on her way to Winnipeg, said she was approaching the intersection around noon when she saw heavy smoke billowing from a vehicle in the ditch.

Traffic had been stopped in all directions, with at least two fire trucks on the scene, she said.

“I could see there were people laying on the ground and people trying to attend to the bodies on the ground,” Bleackley said by phone. “I have seen collisions before, but not like this; not of this magnitude.”

Bleackley was unsure whether paramedics had arrived by that time. She later saw four or five ambulances heading toward the scene.

Around 3:30 p.m., the westbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway were reopened. Eastbound lanes at Highway 5 remained closed and a detour, using service roads, was in effect.

Family members seeking information on loved ones who may have been travelling on the bus can call the main switchboard phone lines at HSC (204-787-3661) or Brandon Regional Health Centre (204-578-4080) or the RCMP family support centre in the Dauphin church basement (204-647-5058).

— with files from Brandon Sun

Katie May
Multimedia producer

Katie May is a multimedia producer for the Free Press.

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Chris Kitching
Reporter

As a general assignment reporter, Chris covers a little bit of everything for the Free Press.

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Tyler Searle
Reporter

Since joining the paper in 2022, Tyler has found himself driving through blizzards, documenting protests and scouring the undersides of bridges for potential stories.

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