15 die when truck, hockey team bus collide

HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan - A semi-trailer slammed into a bus carrying a youth hockey team in western Canada, killing 15 people and injuring 14 in a catastrophic collision that left a country and its national sport heartbroken. The crash sent shockwaves through the team's small hometown.

Canadians were moved to tears as they learned of the identities of the deceased on the bus that was driving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a crucial playoff game on Friday against the Nipawin Hawks.

"The worst nightmare has happened," said the league's president, Bill Chow, as his eyes welled up with tears.

The Broncos are a closeknit team from the small city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, which has a population of about 6,000. Since the horrific accident many have gathered at the community center at the hockey arena. A vigil is scheduled for Sunday night.

"An entire country is in shock and mourning," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. "This is every parent's worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back."

The bus had 29 passengers, including the driver, when it crashed at about 5 pm on Highway 35, police said. Among the dead are Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan, team captain Logan Schatz and radio announcer Tyler Bieber. Authorities earlier said three were in critical condition but later provided an update to say that 15 have now died.

Canadian police said the truck driver was initially detained but has since been released and provided with mental health assistance. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said it's too early to state a cause for the crash.

In a tweet, President Donald Trump said he called Trudeau to offer his condolences to the families of victims.

Hassan Masri, an emergency room doctor at Saskatoon's Royal University Hospital who has done work in war-torn Syria, said the crash reminded him of an airstrike.

Photographs of the wreckage showed the twisted trailer with most of its wheels in the air and the bus on its side and its back portion destroyed. The force of the crash sent both vehicles into the ditch at the northwest corner of the intersection.

Aerial footage showed the bus on its side, its roof peeled back and its front end destroyed. The trailer of the truck lay nearby in a shattered mess, with bags of its peat moss cargo scattered all around. The tractor part of the truck was intact, lying on its passenger side.

The tractor-trailer would have had to yield to a stop sign before crossing over the highway that the hockey bus was travelling on. There is a stand of trees on the southeast corner of the intersection, limiting visibility of the approach on both roads.

Police said a lot of issues have to be investigated, including weather conditions at the time and any mechanical issues with the vehicles.

The tragedy brought to mind an accident in 1986, when the Swift Current Broncos team bus slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.

Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, wearing a green and yellow Broncos team jersey, hugged people on Saturday morning as they came to the Elger Petersen Arena in the Saskatchewan town to comfort each other and learn more.

Associated Press