At least 15 people were killed in a crash along the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry, Manitoba, on Thursday afternoon, after a bus carrying 25 people, mostly older people, collided with a semitruck, the police said.
The crash turned a mile of the highway, which runs from east to west and connects the country’s provinces, into what the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba called a “mass casualty collision” scene.
It was not immediately clear what caused the collision, which took place around noon local time. The authorities have not released the names of any of the victims.
The majority of the victims were older people, a police official said. Ten people were sent to hospital with injuries.
All available officers were deployed to the area. Four emergency aircrafts, including two helicopters from Winnipeg and Regina, in Saskatchewan, flew to the scene, and 14 critical-care crew members from STARS, an air ambulance nonprofit organization, responded, said Blake Robert, a spokesman for STARS, in an email.
Local hospitals activated a “code orange” alert, a triage level to accommodate several patients by increasing staff and resources, such as surgical and critical-care teams.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared his condolences in a post to Twitter, calling the crash “incredibly tragic.”
He also said, “I cannot imagine the pain those affected are feeling — but Canadians are here for you.”
Heather Stefanson, Manitoba’s premier, said in a statement, “Our hearts are broken, and our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of all the lives impacted by the horrific and devastating tragedy near the Town of Carberry.”
Carberry, nicknamed “King Spud Country” for its quality potato crops, is a town of fewer than 2,000 people about two hours west of Winnipeg, the provincial capital. Nearly a quarter of its population is over the age of 65.
After the deadly crash, drivers were warned to avoid the area.
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The crash on Thursday echoed another accident in rural Saskatchewan five years ago, when a bus carrying young hockey players from the Humboldt Broncos team was struck by a transport truck on a secluded highway. Sixteen people died, and 13 others were injured.
