Four suffer ‘significant injuries’ in western Manitoba school bus rollover

Four people were airlifted to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg after a school bus carrying 14 high school students rolled off an icy highway in western Manitoba Tuesday morning.

Witnesses reported seeing students being ejected from the bus, which belongs to Sapotaweyak Cree Nation’s education authority, when it crashed into a snow-filled ditch on Highway 10, about 13 kilometres south of Mafeking, shortly after 8:30 a.m.

“It’s been a rough day. This is the last thing we want to see happen to our students,” Swan Valley School Division Supt. Rob Tomlinson told the Free Press from a Swan River hospital where patients were being treated.

The students, aged 16 to 18, and the bus driver were taken to Swan Valley Health Centre.

Dr. Chris Christodoulou, Shared Health’s interim president and CEO, and Prairie Mountain Health CEO Treena Slate said 15 patients were treated for minor injuries.

The pair said four were airlifted to HSC in stable condition for further care — three to Children’s Hospital and one to HSC’s adult emergency department.

“Our thoughts are with the students, families, and community members affected by this incident,” the officials said in a statement. “We are working collaboratively to ensure appropriate medical care and mental-health supports are in place for those involved.

“While we are thankful this incident did not result in any loss of life, we recognize the emotional toll such an event can have on those who experienced it.”

RCMP are investigating the crash.

“At this time, it is believed the rollover occurred when the driver of the school bus, travelling south on the highway, attempted to pass another bus and lost control,” police said in a news release. “Road conditions were believed to be slippery at the time of the incident.”

Tomlinson said the bus was taking students to Swan Valley Regional Secondary School and Northern Lights Institute of Trades and Technology.

Sapotaweyak Chief Nelson Genaille said some parents drove to the crash scene, about 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, to check on their children after learning about the rollover.

“While we are thankful this incident did not result in any loss of life, we recognize the emotional toll such an event can have on those who experienced it.”

“Anxiety is setting in. What are you going to see, what are you going to find out?” Genaille said while he was en route to the crash site. “Especially when children are involved. It hits the heart a little bit harder.”

The highway was slippery at the time, he added.

“It was raining (Monday), and it’s black ice right now,” Genaille said of the road conditions. He later joined the students’ families at Swan River’s hospital.

Pictures taken after the crash showed the damaged bus upright in a ditch. Some of its windows were missing.

Multiple people told the Free Press the southbound bus rolled when the driver attempted to pass a school bus, from Wuskwi Sipihk First Nation, that was travelling at a slower speed.

Hailey Cote said her 10-year-old daughter, who was on the bus from Wuskwi Sipihk after being picked up in Mafeking, witnessed the rollover.

“(She said) the one bus followed the other one and then tried to pass, lost control and rolled three times right front of the other bus,” Cote said.

Her daughter told her some students were ejected.

“Anxiety is setting in. What are you going to see, what are you going to find out? Especially when children are involved. It hits the heart a little bit harder.”

“She said they were on the ground when the bus stopped rolling, and then one kid jumped up and ran to their bus,” said Cote, who visited the scene afterward. “(My daughter) says she doesn’t want to ride the bus anymore.”

The mother questioned why school buses were on the highway Tuesday morning.

“It was like glare ice on the highway. It rained (Monday) night, and then freezing conditions,” she said.

Salt was being put on Highway 10 in the Mafeking area when the crash happened, a provincial spokesperson said.

Frank Gott, a teacher at Chief Charles Audy Memorial School in Wuskwi Sipihk, said he and the vice-principal rushed to the crash scene after being erroneously told that one of its school buses rolled.

“I was scared to see that bus in the ditch, upright,” Gott said.

When he arrived at the scene, he was told the bus from Sapotaweyak rolled three times after attempting to pass a bus from Wuskwi Sipihk. The bus driver from Wuskwi Sipihk told him three students were ejected.

Gott and others checked on injured children who went into the bus from Wuskwi Sipihk after the rollover. Some had visible cuts.

“They were battered and bruised and sore,” Gott said. “The look of shock (on their faces) is hard to explain. It could have been so much worse.”

“The look of shock (on their faces) is hard to explain. It could have been so much worse.”

He said the students and bus driver from Wuskwi Sipihk were in shock afterward.

“To see something like that is traumatizing for everybody,” said Gott, who also checked on the bus driver from Sapotaweyak. “The bus driver said he was doing OK.”

Premier Wab Kinew described the rollover as a “very scary situation,” while he pledged support for the victims and affected communities.

He said he’s open to discussing potential safety improvements, depending on the findings of the investigation.

“In terms of seat belts on school buses, I’m open to the conversation, but we have to be patient about identifying what took place in this instance before we rush to propose the right solution,” he told reporters at an unrelated event.

Rural Manitoba school bus driver Jodi Ruta said shivers went down her spine when she learned about the rollover.

She recently met with Education Department staff as part of her campaign to make seatbelts mandatory on Manitoba’s school buses.

“We’ve known for many years that school buses should have seatbelts in them because they will protect children better in cases exactly like this,” she said. “We’re lucky there were no deaths. The longer this takes to get seatbelts in school buses, the more injuries there are going to be, and the more probability for death, with our absolutely most precious cargo.”

Prairie Mountain Health called a Code Orange at Swan Valley Health Centre to prepare for an influx of patients, following the mass casualty incident.

Shared Health called a Code Orange Alert at HSC as a precaution, but it was later lifted, a spokesperson said.

A family room was set up at Swan River’s hospital. Family members seeking information were asked to call 204-734-3441.

Tomlinson said the division sent three counsellors and a knowledge keeper to Swan River’s hospital to provide emotional support to students and families. Support staff were at the high school to help the injured students’ classmates.

chris.kitching@freepress.mb.ca