6 children, 2 adults in hospital after van collides with bus
Six children and two adults are fighting for their lives in hospital after their minivan struck a chartered bus head-on near Stayner, Ont.
Eight people are in critical condition after a crash between a coach bus and a minivan. CTV Barrie’s Sean Grech reports.
From CTV Kitchener’s Nicole Lampa: A bus containing students on a ski trip collided with a van near Stayner, leaving many people hurt.
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CTVNews.ca Staff
Six children and two adults are in hospital with critical or life-threatening injuries after their packed minivan collided head-on with a bus full of teens on a highway near Barrie, Ont.
The accident occurred on Highway 26, north of the town of Stayner, on Friday afternoon. Officials said weather conditions may have been poor at the time.
Clearview Fire Department Chief Colin Shewell said all eight people in the van are in “serious, life-threatening” condition. The children are between ages four and 15. The van has Texas licence plates, but police cannot confirm where the occupants are from.
“Our fire department was able to extricate five out of those eight,” Shewell told CTV News Channel. “All eight are in serious, life-threatening condition.”
Shewell said 41 teens, three adult chaperones and a driver were on the bus. The teens are students at Hamilton’s St. Thomas More Catholic Secondary School. Some sustained minor injuries. They were returning home on a chartered bus owned by Attridge Transportation after a trip to the Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood.
Some of the injured have been taken to Collingwood General and Marine Hospital.
Shewell said others were transported from the scene by Ornge Air for trauma assessment. Ornge sent five aircrafts to the scene to transport patients, including two fixed wing planes and three helicopters. Multiple helicopters have arrived at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
Shewell said the teens’ parents have been notified that they are okay. They were brought to a warming and reception station at the Stayner Arena Hall before another bus arrived to return them to Hamilton.
The president of Attridge Transportation told CP24 that he has received information from the driver of the bus.
“Our vehicle was travelling southbound when a northbound vehicle containing about seven or eight passengers crossed over and hit the front of our motor coach, severely impacting that vehicle and the motor coach as well,” said Glenn Attridge. “It was unavoidable.”
He added that the driver was “pretty shook up” after the crash.
St. Thomas More’s principal, Sara Cannon, told CP24 that the students will receive support from the school and school board upon their return.
“Our prayers as a school community go out to the occupants of the other vehicle that was involved in the collision,” she added.
Police continue to investigate the cause of the crash. A stretch of Highway 26 remains closed.
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