Survivor of deadly bus crash adds voice to call for memorial

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This article was published 18/12/2023 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Six months after a highway collision that claimed the lives of 17 Dauphin-area seniors, a survivor of the deadly incident says he no longer takes anything for granted.

Alex Senyk, 74, was one of 25 people on a minibus travelling June 15 to a casino south of Carberry, some 160 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

He now remembers little from that morning.

The excursion was a rare outing for the senior, and one he embarked on with friend and fellow survivor Robert Barnat. The last thing Senyk recalls is getting on the minibus, bound for a day trip south to Sand Hills Casino.

“We were… on the back of the bus,” Senyk said Monday. “I believe, in my opinion, that’s what saved our lives.”

Southbound on Highway 5, the minibus entered the Trans-Canada Highway intersection and was struck by an eastbound semi-trailer. RCMP said they first received calls reporting the crash at 11:43 a.m.

The minibus went into the ditch and burst into flames. Fifteen people died at the scene, two more died later in hospital. The semi driver was sent to hospital, but released soon after.

On June 16, RCMP said the semi had the right of way.

Senyk was treated in Winnipeg for close to a month for broken ribs and internal and external injuries, before being transferred to his home community’s hospital for another three weeks in care.

Today, Senyk moves with a walker as a reminder of the accident. After a near-two-month hospital stay, the Dauphin resident is making a point to keep close to his loved ones.

“(The collision) brought back memories, which all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, you missed everything,” he said.

The senior said he wants to see a permanent memorial built in the community to remember the 17 who died.

“(The collision) brought back memories, which all of a sudden, in a blink of an eye, you missed everything.”–Alex Senyk

“There was a lot of people that passed, and they should be remembered for a long, long time,” he said. “Almost everybody in the city knew somebody.”

In the months following the tragedy, while there’s been a public expression of grief, much of the community has been mourning in private, Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said.

“On one hand, there’s been lots of good things that have happened in the community this year… but at the same time, we know that there’s a significant burden — emotional and otherwise — on many families in the area,” he said Monday.

The mayor described the events of June 15 and beyond as “little disasters” rather than a singular tragedy, as families waited — some for days — to hear the fate of their loved ones, as officials worked to confirm victims’ identities.

In the aftermath, Bosiak said the city didn’t want to move too quickly on organizing a memorial.

“There were still people recovering in the hospital and there was a lot of unknowns about their condition and what that would mean,” he said.

Since then, however, city council and a group of crash victims’ loved ones are now seeking to place a monument in Dauphin’s CN Park as a place of reflection. The mayor said the two groups will work together in the coming weeks and months to discuss and organize a permanent reminder of sorts.

While the details of what it may look like are yet unknown, Bosiak wants to see the monument in a place which allows visitors to quietly reflect on the tragedy and how its effects rippled through the community.

“I’d like to have something that reminds folks that these people were here… Something that is a reminder that there was a tragic event that impacted a great number of families in our community. And we want to acknowledge that and remember.”

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

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