Canada police say bus carrying seniors did not have right of way in crash that killed 15

Toronto, June 17

A bus carrying seniors to a casino that collided with a semi-trailer truck in a crash that killed 15 people did not have the right of way, police said on Friday, after watching video of the accident.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Supt Rob Lasson said police also obtained witness statements from passing motorists that corroborated what investigators saw on the dash cam video from the semi truck.

“This video indicates the bus entered the roadway where the semi truck had the right of way,” Lasson said, adding: “We don’t know why the bus proceeded.”

He said the officers had not been able to speak to the driver of the bus, who is hospitalised. The truck driver also survived and was in the hospital.

Lasson said police were not assigning blame at this time and continued to investigate. He added that officers were looking into whether the truck had mechanical problems.

Lasson said investigators had not yet identified the bodies of the 15 killed, though those who were not injured were presumed to be deceased. He said the ages of the deceased and injured ranged between 58 and 88. Nineteen were women and six were men.

The group of 25 seniors was on a day-trip from rural Dauphin, Manitoba, when the crash happened on the Trans-Canada Highway.

Six of 10 seniors who survived were listed in critical condition, health officials said on Friday. The remaining four were also hospitalised. Most of them had head injuries and broken bones.

“This is an elderly cohort of patients, so recoveries will be long and, of course, can be complicated,” Dr Shawn Young, chief operating officer of Health Sciences Centre Winnipeg, said at a news conference.

In Dauphin, where most of the bus riders are from, flags were flown at half-staff.

Sandra Kaleta, who is involved with the Dauphin Active Living Centre, 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 Kaleta. “I think that’s the hardest part. I can’t imagine what some of these families are going through.” Kaleta said she recalled everyone feeling excited about going to the casino, something that didn’t happen often. The last such outing may have been before the Covid-19 pandemic, she noted.

“It’s going to take years, not just days or months (to recover),” she said.