sarahnb
01-12-2008, 05:09 PM
Please keep these families in mind.
N.B. highway crash kills teacher, 7 students
Van collides with truck in freezing rain
Last Updated: Saturday, January 12, 2008 | 5:57 PM AT
CBC News
Seven members of a high school basketball team and a teacher were killed early Saturday when the van they were in went out of control and hit a transport truck on a slippery highway near Bathurst, N.B., police said.
The van and truck, travelling in opposition directions, collided on Highway 8 near Highway 11 shortly after midnight local time as the teens were returning from playing a basketball game in Moncton, RCMP Cpl. Daniel Melanson said.
The entire passenger side of the van was ripped off during its collision with a tractor-trailer.
(CBC)
"Of the eight people who were killed, seven were male students between the ages of 15 and 18 and one was a female adult," he told CBC Newsworld.
The teens who were killed were among nine members of the Bathurst High School boys basketball team on the road trip and were pronounced dead at the scene.
"There was nothing we could do," RCMP Sgt. Derek Strong told reporters. "The force of the impact was so great that the benches they were sitting on were also ejected from the vehicle, so this was a very, very major impact."
The female teacher who died was from another school and was married to the driver, the team's coach. He survived, along with the couple's daughter, Strong said.
Four people were taken to hospital. Three remained in hospital later Saturday, two in stable condition and one in more serious condition in the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The driver of the transport truck suffered no injuries, the RCMP's Melanson said.
School district superintendent John McLaughlin said the community is devastated by the news. He said the school planned to keep a grief counselling centre open all day on Saturday.
"There is such disbelief," he said. "A tragedy of this proportion — it's unspeakable. We're all trying to make sense of it. Since about 4 a.m. there have been large amounts of students, parents and just people from the community who care very much about the situation coming to Bathurst High School."
Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet said the community of 12,000 was in mourning.
"We've had a tragedy occur, which not only affects the city of Bathurst, but the whole region. Bathurst is a feeder school that has students coming in from around the region ... so this affects a lot of young people."
Police said 12 people were riding in the van, which was just 500 metres from the exit to Bathurst when the accident occurred.
The vehicle fished-tailed on the road, made slippery by snow, freezing rain and ice pellets.
The entire passenger side of the van was ripped off during the collision and most of the passengers were ejected when it struck the tractor-trailer, police said.
"At the time, it would have been snowing," Melanson said. "The road had snow and slush. We had a light snowstorm yesterday that started in the afternoon."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said as a father, his grief goes out to the parents of the teenage boys who were killed.
"The sudden loss of eight people in this unthinkable accident shocked the nation, and all Canadians join you in mourning their passing," he said in a letter to high school principal Coleen Ramsay.
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham, speaking from Ottawa where he attended a first ministers meeting, expressed his condolence for the victims' families.
"I just want to extend sympathies to the affected families," he said. "This is a tragic situation for the community of Bathurst and our province
N.B. highway crash kills teacher, 7 students
Van collides with truck in freezing rain
Last Updated: Saturday, January 12, 2008 | 5:57 PM AT
CBC News
Seven members of a high school basketball team and a teacher were killed early Saturday when the van they were in went out of control and hit a transport truck on a slippery highway near Bathurst, N.B., police said.
The van and truck, travelling in opposition directions, collided on Highway 8 near Highway 11 shortly after midnight local time as the teens were returning from playing a basketball game in Moncton, RCMP Cpl. Daniel Melanson said.
The entire passenger side of the van was ripped off during its collision with a tractor-trailer.
(CBC)
"Of the eight people who were killed, seven were male students between the ages of 15 and 18 and one was a female adult," he told CBC Newsworld.
The teens who were killed were among nine members of the Bathurst High School boys basketball team on the road trip and were pronounced dead at the scene.
"There was nothing we could do," RCMP Sgt. Derek Strong told reporters. "The force of the impact was so great that the benches they were sitting on were also ejected from the vehicle, so this was a very, very major impact."
The female teacher who died was from another school and was married to the driver, the team's coach. He survived, along with the couple's daughter, Strong said.
Four people were taken to hospital. Three remained in hospital later Saturday, two in stable condition and one in more serious condition in the intensive care unit, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The driver of the transport truck suffered no injuries, the RCMP's Melanson said.
School district superintendent John McLaughlin said the community is devastated by the news. He said the school planned to keep a grief counselling centre open all day on Saturday.
"There is such disbelief," he said. "A tragedy of this proportion — it's unspeakable. We're all trying to make sense of it. Since about 4 a.m. there have been large amounts of students, parents and just people from the community who care very much about the situation coming to Bathurst High School."
Bathurst Mayor Stephen Brunet said the community of 12,000 was in mourning.
"We've had a tragedy occur, which not only affects the city of Bathurst, but the whole region. Bathurst is a feeder school that has students coming in from around the region ... so this affects a lot of young people."
Police said 12 people were riding in the van, which was just 500 metres from the exit to Bathurst when the accident occurred.
The vehicle fished-tailed on the road, made slippery by snow, freezing rain and ice pellets.
The entire passenger side of the van was ripped off during the collision and most of the passengers were ejected when it struck the tractor-trailer, police said.
"At the time, it would have been snowing," Melanson said. "The road had snow and slush. We had a light snowstorm yesterday that started in the afternoon."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said as a father, his grief goes out to the parents of the teenage boys who were killed.
"The sudden loss of eight people in this unthinkable accident shocked the nation, and all Canadians join you in mourning their passing," he said in a letter to high school principal Coleen Ramsay.
New Brunswick Premier Shawn Graham, speaking from Ottawa where he attended a first ministers meeting, expressed his condolence for the victims' families.
"I just want to extend sympathies to the affected families," he said. "This is a tragic situation for the community of Bathurst and our province