Deadly highway crash claims another victim, death toll reaches 17

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This article was published 16/07/2023 (840 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

After spending more than a month in the hospital, a senior has died of the injuries she suffered during the mass casualty collision near Carberry — one of the deadliest crashes in Canadian history.

“On July 16, 2023, a 79-year-old female who had been in hospital since the collision on June 15, 2023, succumbed to her injuries,” RCMP announced in a news release Sunday.

“In total, 17 people have died as a result of this collision.”

The victims range in age from 58 to 88 years old. Fifteen women and two men have died.

A total of 25 people, all of them from Dauphin and the surrounding area, boarded a mini bus to take an excursion to Sand Hills Casino on June 15.

The wheelchair-accessible bus collided with a semi-trailer on Highway 1, just north of Carberry, around noon on that spring day.

“It’s hard to know what to even do next. We had a plan Monday to raise the flags back up because the last funeral (for the 16 initial victims) was yesterday,” mayor David Bosiak said when reached by phone from Dauphin on Sunday afternoon.

Flags remain at half-mast at city hall, in addition to outside all other municipal buildings and schools in the city of about 8,400 residents.

Bosiak described the ambience in his hometown as strange, given many are grappling with raw grief while others who did not lose a loved one are busying themselves with the summer festival season.

The mayor said he was saddened to learn of the latest fatality.

Several days ago, he and his neighbours were celebrating the release of two injured passengers from the hospital.

There was “a bit of a buzz” in the community after that news was announced, he said. “We were hopeful.”

Shared Health provided an update Monday to share five patients remain in hospital in connection to the incident.

A spokesman for the provincial agency indicated none of the patients are in intensive care.

“We would like to extend our condolences to the family and friends of the individual who passed away over the weekend,” media relations lead Kevin Engstrom said in a statement.

Bosiak said it’s been an exhausting month. Many residents were sick with a cold that made its away across the city in early July, he said, adding it’s likely all the sleepless nights experienced wore everyone out.

The ministerial association, a longstanding network of local parishes, has been “overworking” to support families, Bosiak said.

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The Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Resurrection, St. Viator Roman Catholic Church and St. George’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church are among the large parishes that are grieving former members, he said.

There have been early discussions about creating a memorial garden in Dauphin for residents who died in the crash and in its wake.

Nothing is confirmed, the mayor said, adding there is no rush given the ongoing uncertainty in the community.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Education reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie.

Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.