Americas

‘Horrific’ Canada highway crash leaves at least 15 people dead

Bus carrying older people and disabled people collided with trailer truck 100km from Winnipeg

Emergency workers helping injured people at the scene of a deadly crash involving a semi-trailer truck and a small bus where at least 15 people have reportedly been killed in Carberry, Canada. Photograph: Nirmesh Vadera/EPA

Fri Jun 16 2023 - 00:33

At least 15 people are have died in Canada following a crash between a semi-trailer truck and a vehicle used to transport older and physically disabled people, according to multiple media reports, as crews mount one of the largest-ever emergency responses in the region.

Rob Hill, commanding officer of the Manitoba Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), said the bus was carrying 25 people and authorities were deploying all their resources in the province to the scene. Ten people were taken to hospitals. The RCMP said it had deployed all available resources to respond to the “mass casualty” crash near the community of Carberry on Thursday, 100 miles west of Winnipeg, adding that the major crimes services were investigating.

Manitoba resident Tracy Leitch was travelling the highway when she spotted smoke ahead, eventually passing a heavily damaged semi truck and another crumpled vehicle.

“There was nothing left of the vehicle,” she told CTV News. “I was almost in tears and almost had a panic attack. Like I just felt really sick to my stomach.”

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Trucker Caroline Bleackley passed through the intersections of two highways around noon when she spotted the scene of the collision. “I have seen collisions before, but not like this – not of this magnitude,” she told the Winnipeg Free Press. “There was a lot of damage ... It was pretty sad to see.”

A spokesperson for the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (Stars), which runs air ambulances, said the scene was “in line with the similar large incidents that we responded to in the past, such as the tragedy with Humboldt Broncos, the incident in James Smith Cree Nation”. The service sent 14 physicians, paramedics and nurses as well as two helicopters and two aircraft to the scene.

Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre hospital declared a code orange, a designation used for mass casualty events. Images on social media showed the Handi-Transit vehicle engulfed in flames. Subsequent images show the vehicle with its roof burned off.

TV broadcasters aired images of what looked like a large van or bus smouldering in a ditch near a transport truck with a smashed engine on a road.

The pavement was littered with debris – broken glass, a large bumper and what looked like a walking aid. Seven blue and yellow tarps were stretched out.

“The news from Carberry, Manitoba is incredibly tragic,” Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.

“I’m sending my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones today, and I’m keeping the injured in my thoughts. I cannot imagine the pain those affected are feeling – but Canadians are here for you.”

“Our hearts are broken, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all the lives impacted by the horrific and devastating tragedy near the Town of Carberry,” Manitoba’s premier, Heather Stefanson, said in a statement. Flags at the province’s legislative building will be lowered to half mast.

The Conservative leader, Pierre Poilievre, tweeted: “My heart is broken to hear of the victims in the horrific crash near Carberry, Manitoba, earlier today.”

The RCMP is expected to provide an update later in the day. – Guardian service, AP

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