Passenger Train Strikes Double-Decker Transit Bus — 6 Dead

There are “multiple fatalities” after a train and bus crashed into each other this morning at a crossing in Ottawa, Canada. Marc Messier, a fire department spokesman, told Canadian news outlet CP24 there were also multiple injuries.

After the crash the train remained upright and intact but derailed, while the entire front of the bus had been ripped to shreds.

Here’s what you need to know…

1. The Crash Occurred During the Busy Morning Commute

According to CBC, the crash occurred at 8:48 a.m. Eastern time at a crossing of Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road in Ottawa, Canada. The train had been traveling from Montreal.

2. Passengers Shouted at the Bus Driver to Stop

It involved a Via Rail passenger train and a double-decker transit bus. According to reports, the bus drove through a rail crossing gate even while the gate’s warning lights were flashing. After the collision, the doors opened and the passengers quickly departed. Patrice Lolgis, a witness, told The Canadian Press:

Boom! It went into the train like that. 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.

Another witness, Mark Cogan, told The Press:

The train is going through and I was just looking around, just watching things happen. And noticed that in the bus lane, the double-decker bus … I saw him and he just kept going.

I just thought maybe there’s a side way around or something but instantly he just … he smoked the train. He went through the guard rail and just hammered the train and then it was just mayhem.

3. Six People Are Dead

The Ottawa Sun reported five dead and “many other injuries.” It later emerged that a sixth person died at the hospital.

The bus driver has been confirmed as one of the deceased.

At least eight critically injured people have been rushed to a local hospital.

4. One Woman Saw a Man With a Severed Head

A man named Jeff Wilson told a CBC reporter that his wife was on the bus and saw a man with a severed head. Wilson said, “When she closes eyes it’s all she can see.”

5. There Were No Injuries on the Train

Sources say all of the injuries occurred to bus passengers; there are no injuries on the train. The AP reports:

Ottawa Fire spokesman Mark Messier told CP24 television … there were no injuries on the train.