A double-decker bus and a passenger train in Canada collided

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A double-decker bus and a passenger train in Canada collided, resulting in "multiple fatalities," CNN affiliates CBC News and CTV News reported Wednesday, citing first responders.

The incident occurred in Ottawa. Fire officials in Ottawa also said at least a dozen people were injured, CTV reported.

The bus has been hit by a Via Rail train at Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road in the city, Canada's capital.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/18/world/americas/canada-bus-train-colllision/index.html

http://www.nbcmontana.com/news/repo...ash/-/14594602/21995606/-/vfi7vb/-/index.html
 
Thanks for starting thread TrackerSam,! This is horrible news.
video ", he didn't stop!!"
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/09/18/via_rail_train_ottawa_city_bus_collide.html


"VIA Rail said there were no major injuries on Train 51.

Authorities would only confirm multiple deaths, all of them on the bus.

Pascal Lolgis, who witnessed the crash, said the bus appeared to drive through a lowered crossing barrier.
Photos View gallery

A Via Rail train and a city bus collided in Ottawa's west end Sept. 18, 2013. zoom

“Boom! It went into the train like that,” Lolgis said. “He didn't stop. He must have lost his brakes. Or he had an ... attack or whatever.

“He just didn't stop. He just keep going like that. Then he get hit.”

Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles flooded the scene as rescue crews worked on the mangled wreckage of the bus. Injured passengers were sent to Civic Hospital in Ottawa."
 
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/o...es+train+Transpo+collision/8927263/story.html
"OTTAWA — Ottawa police say an OC Transpo bus driver and four passengers are dead following a crash between a bus and VIA Rail train near the Fallowfield station in Barrhaven Tuesday morning.

There were multiple injuries as well. As of 9:30 a.m., one patient was being treated in the emergency room at the Queensway Carleton Hospital and two were on the way to the Queensway Carleton. Seven casualties were also routed to the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital.

Robert Kurtenbach was on the top level of the bus on his way to work downtown.

He said the bus had gone about half a kilometre from the Transitway station when suddenly he was aware a train was right in front of the bus.

“The bus didn’t appear to slow down,” he said, and the front end slammed hard into the side of the train.

People screamed, and he was thrown forward and twisted his leg, but feels he is lucky not to have been hurt worse.

Those at the front were badly hurt, he said".
 
I think in the end there will be a few more fatalities but I hope not.

Sounds like the passengers were screaming for the driver to stop but he just didn't. Not sure if a medical crisis, or just mechanical failure or any number of things happened. In some of the photos the gates are shown being UP, but according to witnesses the gates were DOWN At the time of the accident, so they must have been raised back up after.

I know people who were supposed to be on the bus, but as of yet know no one who was actually one it. I am grateful it was a downtown express and NOT a school express bus in a way, but it's tragic nonetheless.

I'm just 3-5 miles from the site, and 1/4 mile from one of the local hospitals, and can hear many many sirens. Am also listening to the scanner.
 
ellabella said:
I think in the end there will be a few more fatalities but I hope not.

Sounds like the passengers were screaming for the driver to stop but he just didn't. Not sure if a medical crisis, or just mechanical failure or any number of things happened. In some of the photos the gates are shown being UP, but according to witnesses the gates were DOWN At the time of the accident, so they must have been raised back up after.

I know people who were supposed to be on the bus, but as of yet know no one who was actually one it. I am grateful it was a downtown express and NOT a school express bus in a way, but it's tragic nonetheless.

I'm just 3-5 miles from the site, and 1/4 mile from one of the local hospitals, and can hear many many sirens. Am also listening to the scanner.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback, it must be a pretty harrowing morning for you, hope there will not be any more casualties...
 
dotr said:
Thanks for the feedback, it must be a pretty harrowing morning for you, hope there will not be any more casualties...
Click to expand...

Me too. And I'll keep everyone posted if I hear anything else.

I hope they find otu what happened and why it seems like the bus didn't stop, if only for the family of the driver and the families of the other victims.
 
5 killed as Canada passenger train, bus collide

14 minutes ago

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A passenger train collided with a double-decker bus in Canada's capital Wednesday, ripping off the front of the bus and killing five people, police said. Witnesses said the bus went through a closed crossing barrier, and passengers said they screamed "Stop, stop!" at the driver just before impact.

The crash in Ottawa occurred at the peak of morning rush hour.

It was Canada's worst train accident since an oil train derailed and exploded in a Quebec town in July, killing dozens of people...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20130918/CN-Canada-Train-Bus-Collide/
 
6th now confirmed death via @CBCNews on Twitter, amongst other MSM sources.

31 patients transported to local hospitals, 11 critical. 4 Q-Carleton, 4 Civic, 6 General, 17 Montfort (less critical).
 
Our City is mourning after today's tragedy.
I have been crying most of the day

A friend of mine just happened to not get on that bus (Rte 76) and was on another bus not far behind
Another friends co-worker WAS on that bus. She was not harmed, she managed to called in to work to advise them of what happened.

I have heard that there will be a CandleLight Vigil at Fallowfield Stn in Barrhaven at 7pm this evening

Witnesses on the bus noticed railway crossing light were activated and barriers were down but bus was not stopping. They began to yell STOP STOP STOP to bus driver..it was too late.

According to eyewitness accounts, cars were stopped on Woodroofe Ave, the railway crossing lights were activated/on and the crossing gates were down.

The injured increased to 34. 31 transported to area hospitals via ambulance and 3 others left the scene and went on their own to the ER
A few passengers with minor injuries were discharged from hospital this afternoon.

We are just beginning to hear stories of drivers who were stopped at the railway crossing get out of their vehicles and run over to begin to help those on the bus.

I have not heard if the 911 calls made by the bus passengers have been made public yet.

Reports of bus passengers being thrown onto the railway tracks, of limbs, and other gruesome details

They have released some audio from the Scanners of the First Responders on the scene, they described 2 deceased on the scene, then when they noticed more dead they believing that they had of mass casualities based on quick visual condition of the bus

There is a lot of talk of Safety at that crossing by the Transportation Safety Board, Via Rail had commissioned an inquiry into the safety of that crossing earlier this year
 
Very sad !!!
Wonder if the bus driver had a heart attack , or if the brakes failed ?
My condolences to the victims' families and all those who are hurting today !
 
LietKynes said:
Very sad !!!
Wonder if the bus driver had a heart attack , or if the brakes failed ?
My condolences to the victims' families and all those who are hurting today !
Click to expand...

according to eye witness accounts, bus passengers, they said the driver did apply the brakes after they yelled STOP STOP STOP..but it was too late.
 
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2013/09/18/21134186.html

"OTTAWA -- All she knows is that the firefighter has green eyes.

"That's the point when I just couldn't move. He held onto my hands and said, don't look anywhere, just look into my eyes. He was trying to get me to walk down the stairs - the stairs were barely there. It was just so gruesome, the bodies and blood," Shamsia Quraishi, 30, said.

The front of the bus was gone, five of its passengers and the driver were killed. A man who'd been hurled from the bus face down didn't move again. A neon-clad cyclist who'd put his bike on the rack was beneath the bus. People sat sobbing on the grass in the aftermath of the crash just before 9 a.m.

"If that guy hadn't helped me, I don't think I would have gotten off the bus. I don't know his name. All I know is he has green eyes."
 
School buses have to stop at all railway crossings, and maybe that should apply to all buses.
 
I'm not sure we'll ever know why the bus driver didn't stop.

I just hope that those traumatized by the accident are able to put those images out of their head.

And, of course, that the loved ones of the accident victims can deal with the tragedy that has landed on their doorstep.

:grouphug:
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-bus-crash-victims-names-released-1.1860131

"
Updated

Victims are 5 men, 1 woman all between ages of 21 and 57: police
Connor Boyd and Kyle Nash, Carleton University students, among dead, friend says


Ottawa police have identified all six victims of the collision between an Ottawa transit bus and a Via passenger train at a rail crossing in the south Ottawa community of Barrhaven.

They are:

David Woodard, 45
Connor Boyd, 21
Kyle Nash, 21
Michael Bleakney, 57
Rob More, 35
Karen Krzyzewski, 53

Police said the families of all six victims have been notified.

Woodard was the driver of the bus and a 10-year veteran of OC Transpo.

Nash and Boyd were previously identified as students at Carleton University who previous attended John McRae Secondary School in Barrhaven.
"
Michael Bleakney has been identified as a geotechnical enginner at Public Works"
 
Maybe the reason the driver didn't stop was because he didn't hear the passengers yelling- he could have been wearing ear buds and yakking on a cell phone. I hope not- but it's one possible explanation.
 
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...g-gate-down-25-seconds-before-crash-1.1861628

"
Updated

Rail crossing gate was down 25 seconds before deadly crash
Train did not whistle at approach because of local bylaw
Both bus and train now with investigators
Memorial held for 2 Carleton students killed in crash
Province and city to look into design of rail crossing

The gate guarding the level crossing where an Ottawa transit bus and a Via passenger train collided was fully horizontal 25 seconds before the impact that killed six people, a preliminary investigation into the crash has revealed.

Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Rob Johnston said the crossing lights, bells and gates for the level crossing near Fallowfield station had engaged 47 seconds before the crash, and that 25 seconds before the crash, the gate was down"
 
“Those trains travel a long distance, and they’re very heavy, and it takes them a long distance to stop at that speed.”

The TSB has one “download” of data from the bus so far, and is still working to access that information. He said a detailed mechanical evaluation will follow as well as a review of requirements for buses to stop at all railway crossings. Bus operations and driver training will also be investigated"

http://globalnews.ca/news/854348/signals-worked-investigating-bus-data-and-human-factors-tsb/
 
dotr said:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottaw...g-gate-down-25-seconds-before-crash-1.1861628

"
Updated

Rail crossing gate was down 25 seconds before deadly crash
Train did not whistle at approach because of local bylaw
Both bus and train now with investigators
Memorial held for 2 Carleton students killed in crash
Province and city to look into design of rail crossing

The gate guarding the level crossing where an Ottawa transit bus and a Via passenger train collided was fully horizontal 25 seconds before the impact that killed six people, a preliminary investigation into the crash has revealed.

Transportation Safety Board lead investigator Rob Johnston said the crossing lights, bells and gates for the level crossing near Fallowfield station had engaged 47 seconds before the crash, and that 25 seconds before the crash, the gate was down"
Click to expand...

I have a 21 year old son at university. I simply can't imagine how the victims' families feel. :cry:

Of course I cry for ALL of the victims of this terrible crash, including the bus driver.

As the final train car cleared the intersection and the barriers lifted, bus drivers on both sides of the track hesitated momentarily, but then pressed their gas pedals to move on.

As the buses passed, the drivers waved to each other, the 94 driver visibly sombre.

“I’ll never forget it,” he said. “Never.”
Click to expand...

http://thechronicleherald.ca/canada/1155892-ottawa-bus-riders-reflect-on-tragedy

Sadly and ironically, as I went to pick up my 21 year old son today to bring him home from uni for the weekend, I passed a rail crossing in town where there was a circle of fresh flowers surrounding some initials. It reminded me that a fellow high school student of his (and football team member) was killed at that spot a year ago when crossing railway tracks on foot.

I'm simply not sure how we can prevent these accidents from happening in the future.
:(
 
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