UPDATED TUESDAY: Manitoba to review deadly intersection, bring in experts if needed: premier

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This article was published 19/06/2023 (1188 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson says the province will bring in experts if necessary as part of a review to ensure safety at an intersection where 15 seniors were killed in a crash.

Stefanson says the government will make the appropriate checks, but for now is letting the police investigation unfold.

“We don’t want to rush through this,” Stefanson told a news conference in Winnipeg on Monday. “There are still investigations going on right now. We’ll respect that process. But you know, an internal review is always taken.

“Because of the severity (of the crash), I think it’s important that we are willing to go beyond that, bring in experts where needed to ensure safety of people travelling on our roadways is the most important issue.”

RCMP continued to investigate Thursday’s crash on the Trans-Canada Highway between a semi-trailer truck and a minibus taking seniors on a day trip to a casino at Carberry, about 50 kilometres east of Brandon.

Ten remained in hospital, but the condition has improved of one of the six people in critical care.

Mounties said they have yet to speak to the bus driver as he is still receiving care in hospital.

“We will be speaking to him when the time is right,” said RCMP Supt. Rob Lasson.

Police have said dashcam footage shows the bus was crossing the Trans-Canada Highway when it went into the path of the truck. But mechanical inspections and other checks are needed before investigators can determine exactly what happened.

Lasson said the mechanical inspections would take weeks and the investigation was moving slower than usual, given that many of the witnesses were still in hospital.

“All the witnesses were in the bus, and a lot of them are in trauma right now,” Lasson said. “So we have to rely on forensic investigations, mechanical analysis of the vehicle and things like that. And that’s why it’s taking so long.”

Lasson said the autopsies began Monday. The medical examiner has said identification will take time and may require using dental records or fingerprints as many of the victims received severe facial trauma.

Weather conditions were clear at the time of the crash. There was also a stop sign at the intersection with a yield sign in the median between the opposite lanes.

The driver of the truck was earlier released from hospital.

Of the 25 people on the bus, 19 were women. They all ranged in ages from 58 to 88. The seniors were on a trip to the Sand Hills Casino near Carberry.

The outing was organized by the Dauphin Active Living Centre, a seniors activity centre 190 kilometres to the north in Dauphin.

Dauphin city council was expected to meet later Monday to determine if and how any type of vigil or community gathering for the victims might take place.

Mayor David Bosiak said support workers and grief support dogs have been visiting the city’s seniors’ villages, where there are “pockets of deep sorrow.”

But, he added, the older age of many of those affected means there’s a certain a stoicism or need to experience the trauma privately.

“There is a sombre mood in the community generally, just a quietness,” Bosiak said.

In an email to the Sun, Bosiak said the Dauphin Ministerial Association is meeting today to further discuss the possibility of a community-wide vigil or event. More concrete information will likely be available after that meeting.

Randy Daley, a city councillor involved in providing supports, said people may feel OK this week, but the grief could linger and grow with time. Funerals should bring in family and busyness, he said, but it will get quiet in the weeks to come and that may be when it gets more difficult.

“Everybody has a different way of dealing with it,” Daley said. The names of those who died have not been officially announced.

Helen Kufley, 88, was among those on the bus who died, her son said in a message on the weekend. Nettie Nakonechny also died and leaves behind eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, granddaughter Teah Alexander said in a statement to Global News.

At the Dauphin Active Living Centre, Sandra Kaleta said the usual morning activities were quiet. “(It’s) the empty chairs,” Kaleta said. “It’s just like this empty void.”

While victims’ families have been notified, seniors in the community aren’t sure the condition of their friends, Kaleta said.

“For most people, I think, that’s what they are waiting for,” she said. “Who was on the bus? Who is still fighting in the hospital?”

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew said in a statement Monday that his party is “committing to making highways safer for all Manitobans, starting with a collision review.”

“This is a terrible tragedy,” he said. “To the families who have lost loved ones or are waiting for news, we’re keeping you in our hearts. First responders and health care workers always go above and beyond, but it’s moments like this that we are so grateful for the professionalism and the courage of Manitoba’s front-line workers. To the Parkland community: we grieve alongside you.”

A party spokesperson said Kinew visited the accident site to pay his respects over the weekend.

In a statement, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dougald Lamont said provincial infrastructure is “dangerously out of date” regarding both design and construction.

“Across the province, we are behind in multiple billions of dollars of road investments. We’re talking about decades of neglect, with governments only stepping up after something has already gone wrong and it’s too late,” Lamont wrote. “Dangerous bridges, dangerous intersections are causing preventable tragedies.

“Hiring an expert as a one-off is not what we need. Ongoing assessment should be a permanent part of how government invests in, builds and maintains infrastructure. Manitoba Infrastructure should be actively working with municipalities, rural and urban, to identify problem sites and make it a priority to fix them.”

Reached for comment, Manitoba Trucking Association communications manager Susan Green said the organization would refrain from commenting on the situation at this time.

“With the Canadian Trucking Alliance and other provincial trucking associations, we strongly believe that now is not the time for speculation on the circumstances surrounding the tragic collision near Carberry, Manitoba,” Green wrote.

The investigators on the scene are professionals who need the support of everyone so they can do their job. As noted by the RCMP, it is important to take the time required to determine the facts.”

By email, a spokesperson for Manitoba Public Insurance told the Sun on Monday that between 2012 and 2021, there are records of 29 collisions at the intersection of the Trans-Canada and Highway 5.

“Of these collisions, one resulted in a fatality and 12 resulted in an injury. While complete data for 2022 and 2023 is not readily available, MPI can confirm that no fatal collisions occurred at this intersection in these years prior to the collision on June 15, 2023.”

A search of the Sun’s archives showed stories about other fatal collisions at the intersection in 1999, 2001 and 2005.

» The Canadian Press with files from The Brandon Sun