15 dead in highway crash in Manitoba: RCMP

The commanding officer of the Manitoba RCMP told a media conference Thursday that 15 people are dead and 10 others were taken to hospital after a highway crash near Carberry, Man.

Assistant Commissioner Rob Hill said a semi and a small bus collided at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Highway 5 near the community, about 50 kilometres east of Brandon.

Hill said the bus was carrying a number of seniors from the Dauphin area.

A worker at Robin’s Nest Motel and Cafe in Carberry told 650 CKOM that he saw the aftermath of the crash.

“I went outside and I saw it was a fire about 15 to 20 feet high and smoke,” he said. “I saw that there was a semi and a passenger vehicle (that collided) and the passenger vehicle caught fire …

“I never saw that much fire on any vehicle. It was really bad.”

Tracy Leitch was driving from Brandon to Winnipeg and could see the smoke from some distance away.

“I just thought maybe it was farmers burning something,” she said. “Then we came across it and I saw the semi in the ditch and there was no front end left and it was smoking. Then I saw a vehicle that was completely burnt to the ground.”

The STARS air ambulance based in Regina was dispatched to the scene of the crash.

STAR-9 (Regina) has been dispatched for a scene call emergency in the Carberry, MB area.

— STARS (@STARSambulance) June 15, 2023

Leitch said she saw a first responder sitting on the highway beside a body and saw other first responders working on several other injured people.

“It was just a real shock to see all of that,” she said.

Leitch called the things she saw “horrific.”

“I’m just thinking of all the families that are going to be affected by this and the number of people who passed away from it,” she said. “It’s just very, very sad.”

According to Manitoba’s Highway Hotline, the Trans-Canada was closed for three kilometres on each side of the junction of the two highways.

“There are a few vehicles from RCMP and the fire department and a crane and everything to clean up the road, but still, the main highway is blocked and they’re using a service road (to detour traffic),” the Robin’s Nest employee said.

Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre was placed in Code Orange, meaning staff was to prepare for a mass casualty event.

A statement from the Saskatchewan Health Authority said the Saskatchewan Air Ambulance service sent two planes to provide support to the Manitoba effort, but no patients were taken to Saskatchewan hospitals.

— With files from The Canadian Press