At least 15 people were killed and 10 others injured in a road accident in central Canada’s Manitoba province on Thursday.
“Fifteen people have been pronounced dead,” said Rob Hill of the Manitoba Police Department, while “ten people have been taken to hospital with various injuries.”
One of the vehicles involved in the accident, a bus, was carrying a total of 25 people, “mostly elderly,” he added.
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Fatal accident on Hwy1 near Carberry, MB @CarraDeShaukeenAt least 15 people have been killed in a crash between a semi truck and a handi-transit vehicle on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Winnipeg near Carberry, Manitoba. #Carberry #mbpoli #Mantioba… pic.twitter.com/7KC0GGDibj
– 401_da_sarpanch (@401_da_sarpanch) June 15, 2023
Earlier, Canadian police had reported on Twitter that their officers had responded to multiple hit-and-runs near the town of Carberry, west of Winnipeg, and that first responders and units from the Royal Mounted Police were at the scene.
According to information released by the press, the accident involved a semi-trailer and a bus modified to transport people with special needs.
“My heart was broken when I learned of the tragic accident near Carberry. My sincere condolences go out to all involved,” Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson wrote on Twitter.
She reported that the flags at provincial legislative headquarters were flown at half-mast, “in memory of those we have tragically lost”.
Authorities said the road was closed in both directions and asked motorists to avoid that area.
According to Nirmesh Vadera, who works near the crash site, emergency vehicles and two helicopters went to the crash site around noon local time.
“It was really quite surreal to see the magnitude of the accident because I’ve never seen this kind of fire in a vehicle before,” Vadera told AFP by phone, adding that there was a lot of smoke visible around the scene.
He also said a semi-trailer had overturned onto the road, while a smaller vehicle was still on fire.
In 2018, 15 people were killed in an accident in the neighboring province of Saskatchewan when a truck collided with a bus.
Source: DN
