A Canadian flag flies at half-mast at a truck stop in Brandon, Man., on Friday, June 16, 2023, to honour the victims of a bus crash in Carberry, on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg. Health authorities say six of 10 seniors who survived a bus crash in southern Manitoba that killed 15 others were listed in critical condition in hospital.DARRYL DYCK/The Canadian Press
A deadly bus crash in Manitoba that killed 15 people on Thursday and critically injured six others has left a community reeling as it deals with the tragic loss of life.
At a press conference Friday, police said dash-cam footage seized from the semi-trailer involved in the collision with the minibus shows the truck had the right of way as it travelled down the Trans-Canada highway. It appears the bus pulled out in front of the truck, said Superintendent Rob Lasson.
While police are not assigning blame, Supt. Lasson said officers continue to investigate all possibilities, including whether the truck had mechanical problems and if it recorded its speed and co-ordinates.
Police have not yet spoken to the driver of the bus, who is still being treated in hospital, but they have spoken to the truck driver.
The bus had been travelling from the Dauphin Active Living Centre to Sand Hills Casino in Carberry, about 200 kilometres south, when the collision happened at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 5 in Carberry shortly before noon on Thursday.
Supt. Lasson said passengers on the bus were between the ages of 58 and 88. Nineteen were women and six were men.
Victims of the crash have yet to be publicly identified, leaving loved ones waiting while investigators try to determine what led to the tragic incident. RCMP said it is working with the medical examiner’s officer to confirm identities and get in contact with their families.
Sandra Kaleta, who is involved with the seniors centre, said she had considered going on the bus Thursday.
“I don’t know why I changed my mind,” Ms. Kaleta said. “I just did.”
She said she knew some of the people on the bus and played Scrabble every Tuesday with one of them.
“I have no idea how she is,” said Ms. Kaleta. “I think that’s the hardest part. I can’t imagine what some of these families are going through.”
In Dauphin, flags were at half-mast and residents awaited word on the fate of loved ones.
Police have said the disaster echoed the 2018 Humboldt Broncos crash in Saskatchewan that left 16 people dead when a transport truck slammed into a bus carrying the junior hockey team after running a stop sign.
“We have already linked into the investigators in Saskatchewan, who have first-hand experience and are some of the primary investigators in the investigation with the Humboldt crash,” said Supt. Lasson.
This is the weekly Western Canada newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox and Alberta Bureau Chief Mark Iype. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.
Wendy Cox