Three dead, others injured in fiery crash of Calgary transit buses
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Digital Subscription
One year of digital access for only $1.44 a week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $5.77 plus GST every four weeks. After 52 weeks, price increases to the regular rate of $19.95 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
CALGARY – Three people died Thursday when a transit bus set off a chain-reaction crash on a busy Calgary road and rear-ended another bus to ignite an explosion
Officials said the three killed were on one of the buses, and more than a dozen others were injured in the crash involving eight vehicles.
Staff Sgt. Andy Woodward said one officer was also hurt and taken to hospital after she ran toward a bus just as the fire erupted.
He said investigators were trying to figure out how it all happened.
“Our collision reconstruction (staffers) have arrived on scene and they will try to piece together what has occurred,” Woodward told reporters.
The crash happened shortly after 1 p.m., when one bus slammed into a car and hit other vehicles in the city’s northeast, near the airport.
Woodward said the bus then bounced from that crash through the intersection and hit the second bus parked at a bus stop, setting off the fireball.
One of the buses was powered by compressed natural gas.
The impact saw flames quickly envelop the entire roof of one bus, lifting aloft thick clouds of ashy-black smoke. The force of that crash also propelled the second bus into three more vehicles.
The front end of the other bus was left crumpled and smashed, its steering wheel hanging out.
Crews from a nearby firehall quickly extinguished blazes on both buses. The area was scattered with bits of metal and debris.
“I’ve been a police officer for 36 years, and I think this is probably the biggest scene I’ve worked on in relation to the collision we’ve got here,” Woodward said.
Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Adam Loria said 19 people were injured in all. Ten were taken to hospital by ambulance.
“It was a very busy scene,” Loria said.
Mike Mahar, the head of Calgary’s transit union, said one bus driver was able to quickly escape, but the other bus driver had to be extracted by emergency crews. He was transported to hospital but Mahar said his condition is unknown.
Mahar called it a “horrific event” and a tragedy for everyone impacted.
“Our thoughts obviously go out for our members and the environment that they find themselves in today, but also for the passengers and all the families that are affected,” he said in an interview.
He said it appears that at some point the natural gas-powered bus lost control.
Mahar added that it’s not clear why the fire was so extreme and that generally natural gas buses are safe.
“It’s very unusual for this level of damage and the number of fatalities in a transit accident,” he said.
Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he’s heartbroken over the deaths and injuries.
“There will be a full investigation into what happened,” Farkas said on social media.
Later Thursday at a Forever Canadian rally in the city with Prime Minister Mark Carney ahead of the province’s referendum, Farkas called the crash horrific and commended a first responder.
“In the middle of the chaos, one brave Calgary police officer ran into a burning bus to save the life of a child,” he said.
Carney, in remarks at the rally, also commended the first responders who risked their lives to help those in the crash.
“Tonight doctors and nurses are treating the wounded, and friends, family and neighbours are consoling the bereaved. Because in Calgary, in Alberta, in Canada, we take care of each other,” he said to cheers.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith shared condolences online earlier in the day. “My sincere thoughts are with the families of those who died and with everyone injured,” she said.
Calgary Transit says on its website that it has nearly 250 compressed natural gas-powered buses, representing about 20 per cent of its fleet.
It says it first acquired this type of bus in 2014 and since then the fleet’s emissions have reduced significantly.
The website says the city plans to buy 153 more natural gas buses this year to replace diesel buses.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 15, 2026.
— With files from Lisa Johnson and Jack Farrell in Edmonton
Note to readers:This is a corrected story. A previous version said the crash was in northwest Calgary and that a bus was powered by liquid natural gas.