The two drivers involved in the road accident that occurred Saturday evening on the South Shore of Montreal, during which the collapse of an electrical pylon deprived 88,000 Hydro-Québec customers of access to power, have been arrested.
Late Sunday evening, the Longueuil Agglomeration Police Service (SPAL) confirmed that the driver of the Montérégie Auxiliary Firefighters Association (APAM) bus and the driver of the car involved in the accident were placed under arrest.
The driver of the APAM bus, a man in his sixties, faces charges of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.
The driver who was behind the wheel of the car is accused of drunk driving. Her age had not been made public as of early Monday morning.
SPAL police will continue their investigation throughout Monday in order to clarify the sequence of events.
For now, the only details known are that around 9:45 p.m. Saturday, the APAM bus left the road and came into contact with the electricity pylon, causing it to fall. The accident occurred at the intersection of Chemin de Chambly and the viaduct leading to Highway 30.
“Now, as for the other details, the investigation is continuing and we will eventually determine the chronology of events based on the testimonies and evidence collected,” said agent Ghyslain Vallières, who is a spokesperson for SPAL.
Three people were injured in the accident, two on the bus and one in the car.
At the height of the event, 88,000 Hydro-Québec customers were without power due to the collapse of the pylon. By Monday morning, electricity was back on for all homes affected by the outage.
The situation, however, caused a lot of inconvenience on Sunday. In particular, SPAL had to ask people affected by the outages to stop calling 911 for information on when power would be restored.
The collapsed pylon will have to be completely rebuilt, but this will not have an impact on service, assured Hydro-Québec, which nevertheless described this situation as an event of “exceptional nature.”
In a statement, APAM confirmed that one of its vehicles was involved in the incident, but declined to say more due to the ongoing police investigation, with which it says it is cooperating fully.
“APAM sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience caused by this accident and our thoughts are with those involved and we wish them a speedy recovery,” the association wrote.