The majority of those involved in the accident were seniors from the nearby city of Dauphin and its surrounding area, according to Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill, who commands the Manitoba RCMP.
“Sadly, this is a day in Manitoba and across Canada that will be remembered as one of tragedy and incredible sadness,” Hill said at a news conference Thursday. “There are many people in Dauphin and the surrounding areas who are anxiously awaiting news about a loved one. To all those waiting, I can’t imagine how difficult it is not knowing if the person you love the most will be making it home tonight.”
Superintendent Rob Lasson of the Manitoba RCMP Major Crime Services called the scene a “mass casualty situation” that stoked memories of a catastrophic Canadian hockey team bus crash in Saskatchewan five years ago that killed 15 people. The April 6, 2018, collision between a tractor-trailer and a bus carrying a members of the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey league team was one of the worst road accidents in Canada.
“Answers will take some time, but I assure you RCMP will get the answers,” Lasson said. “This incident does have echoes of the tragic collision that happened in Humboldt, Saskatchewan, and we are very much aware of that. We have already linked into the investigators in Saskatchewan who have firsthand experience and are some of the primary investigators in the investigation into the Humboldt crash, who are assisting us right now in any way they can.”
Both drivers in Thursday’s collision are being treated in the hospital, Lasson said, and the investigation is focusing on the question of who had the right of way.
Manitoba RCMP officials said all available resources were deployed to the scene, including forensic personnel who could reconstruct the accident. A support center was established in nearby Dauphin to answer questions for families of the passengers who were aboard the bus.
A truck driver involved in the Saskatchewan collision pleaded guilty to a slate of charges involving dangerous driving causing bodily harm and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to Canadian news reports.