At least 15 people have been killed and 10 injured in a “mass casualty collision” on a highway in Canada on Thursday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.
The crash happened on the Trans-Canada Highway between a semi-trailer truck and a bus near the southwestern Manitoba town of Carberry, according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Smoke rises from a car after a fatal crash near Carberry, west of Winnipeg, Canada, on June 15, 2023.
Nirmesh Vadera/AFP via Getty Images
The collision occurred around 11:40 local time. The semi-trailer was traveling east on Highway 1 when it struck the bus, which was southbound on Highway 5, as the bus crossed over the eastbound lanes, police said.
“It was immediately apparent that this was a mass casualty situation,” Superintendent Rob Lasson, the officer in charge of major crime services in Manitoba, said during a press conference Thursday evening.
Smoke rises from a car as first responders are at the scene of a fatal road accident near Carberry, west of Winnipeg, Canada on June 15, 2023.
Nirmesh Vadera/AFP via Getty Images
The bus was carrying 25 people, most of whom were elderly, according to Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill.
Ten people were taken to the hospital with various injuries, Hill said. The local medical examiner was working to confirm the identities of the dead, he said.
“For everyone who is waiting, I can’t imagine how hard it is not knowing if the person you love the most is coming home tonight,” Hill said during the press conference.
Both drivers survived the crash and are in the hospital, authorities said.
Lasson stressed that it was still early days, but that the incident would be thoroughly investigated.
“We have to be alert to the fact that there could be wrongdoing and, if so, there could be a criminal element to this investigation,” said Lasson, who called it a “complex and large investigation.” .
First responders secure the area of the crash site near Carberry, Manitoba, Canada on June 15, 2023, in this still image obtained from a social media video.
Portageonline/mike Blume via Reuters
The head of the trucking company involved in the crash, Day & Ross, said they would co-operate fully with the investigation and “offer any assistance and support we can”.
“All of us at Day & Ross are heartbroken by the tragic news from Manitoba this afternoon,” Day & Ross CEO William Doherty said in a statement to CTV. “The thoughts of the entire Day & Ross team are with those who have lost loved ones in this terrible incident, and we hope that those injured will recover.”
A major collision has closed a section of the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry, Manitoba on June 15, 2023.
Steve Lambert/The Canadian Press via AP
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called news of the crash “incredibly tragic.”
“I send my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones today, and I keep the injured in my thoughts,” he said. he tweeted. “I can’t imagine the pain felt by those affected, but Canadians are here for you.”
ABC News’ Aleem Agha and Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
