The latest on the fatal accident between senior citizen bus and semi truck in rural Manitoba
RCMP says 15 people were killed and 10 injured after a bus carrying senior citizens to a casino crashed into a semi truck Thursday morning on the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry, Man.
These are the latest developments (always CT):
12:40 PM
Police, health officials and community leaders in Western Manitoba look to Saskatchewan for their experience handling fatal bus crashes.
Dr. Rob Grierson, Manitoba Shared Health’s Chief Medical Officer of Emergency Response Services, says emergency responders and air ambulances learned a lot from the 2018 Humboldt Broncos crash in Saskatchewan.
RCMP support Rob Lasson says Manitoba officers have also been in touch with Saskatchewan investigators looking into the Broncos crash.
Rob Muench, a city councilman who was mayor of Humboldt at the time of the Broncos disaster, says he and the city have reached out to counterparts in Dauphin.
He says they have shared information that will hopefully help the city of Manitoba prepare for what is to come.
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12:15 p.m
Health officials say six of the 10 seniors injured in the bus crash are in critical condition in hospital.
They say the other four are being cared for in the hospital in a surgical ward.
The patients range in age from their early 60s to their late 80s and are treated for a variety of serious injuries.
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11am
The company that owns the bus involved in the fatal accident extends its deepest condolences to the families and friends of its customers.
Quality Care Transit, based in Dauphin, Man., says in a statement on Facebook that Thursday’s fiery crash is a heartbreaking situation.
It says his heart aches for everyone involved.
The bus carrying 25 people left Dauphin Thursday morning for a casino near Carberry, west of Winnipeg.
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10:30 in the morning
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the flag will fly at half-mast on the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in honor of the victims of the Manitoba crash.
He says he can’t imagine what families are going through.
Trudeau also says it brings back terrible memories of the 2018 Humboldt Broncos bus crash in Saskatchewan, which left 16 dead and 13 injured.
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8:45 am
Dauphin lawmaker Brad Michaleski says it will be hard to find anyone in Manitoba’s western community who wasn’t directly affected by the deadly bus crash, or know someone who was.
He says the town of 8,600 and the surrounding region is a tight-knit community.
Michaleski says it’s a shocking tragedy and people are trying to come to grips with its magnitude.
Flags are also flown at half-mast at City Hall, and an electronic billboard downtown features a burning candle with the words #dauphinstrong beside it.
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3:03 am
The Manitoba government says on Twitter that all lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway at Highway 5 have reopened to traffic.
RCMP says it appears the bus was crossing the Trans-Canada, heading south on Highway 5, when it was hit Thursday morning.
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This report from The Canadian Press was first published on June 16, 2023.
