(Dauphin, Man.) Flags flew at half-mast across Canada on Friday as residents of a western Manitoba town awaited news of the fate of loved ones the day after a tractor-trailer collided with a bus carrying elderly people that killed at least 15 people.
Police were beginning Friday to reconstruct the scene of the bus crash, which was transporting elderly people for a day trip to a casino.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty right now,” Dauphin MPP Brad Michaleski said in an interview with The Canadian Press.
“We are just trying to understand the extent of the problem for our area and we are patiently waiting for the RCMP. »
Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officers said they were working with the medical examiner’s office to confirm identities and pass information to relatives of the victims.
The bus was carrying 25 people, 10 of whom were transferred to area hospitals with head injuries and broken bones.
On Friday, provincial health officials said six of the 10 injured remain in critical condition. Four other patients are treated in an operating room.
Those hospitalized are between 60 and 80 years old and are being treated for various serious injuries, it adds.
Sandra Kaleta says she is involved with the Dauphin Active Living Centre, which organized the trip. She says she had considered taking the bus on Thursday.
“I don’t know why I changed my mind,” she said. But I did. »
She said she knew some of the people on the coach and played Scrabble every Tuesday with one of them.
“I have no idea how she is,” she said.
“I just don’t know. I think that’s the hardest part. I can’t imagine what some of these families are going through. »
Mme Kaleta recalled everyone feeling excited about going to the casino. It was not a trip that happened often, she added, noting that the last one may have predated COVID-19.
Solidarity in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday in Montreal that the flag at the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill would also be lowered.
“There is a tremendous amount of support that everyone is going to give during these extremely difficult times. The federal government, we will be there to help, ”he assured in the company of the mayor of Montreal, Valérie Plante.
On Thursday, a bus from the Dauphin Active Living Center was hit by a tractor-trailer at an intersection on the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry, about 150 kilometers south of Dauphin.
The bus company, Quality Care Transit, spoke about the accident on Facebook.
“We would like to express our deepest condolences to the families and friends of our beloved customers and to our community as we go through this heartbreaking situation,” she said.
A horrible scene
The coach was on a day trip to Carberry Casino when the accident happened shortly before midday on Thursday. Police said road conditions were clear and both drivers survived.
Rescue teams arrived at a gruesome scene of bodies on the road.
The tractor-trailer was still standing in the ditch, its front end shattered while the coach was on the grass a short distance away, engulfed in flames.
Dauphin Mayor David Bosiak said everyone in the town of around 8,600 knows someone who was on the coach, and there is a collective sense of shock.
Superintendent Rob Lasson said it appears the bus was crossing the Trans-Canada Highway, heading south on Highway 5, when it was struck.
He declined to speculate on the cause or circumstances of the accident, but said the investigation was continuing and criminal charges were possible.