Police report “multiple fatalities” in a collision involving a Via Rail train and a city bus in Ottawa.
Fire officials say at least five people on the bus are confirmed dead, but no further information on the victims was immediately available.
The collision at a level crossing took place at the peak of the morning commute.
Pascal Lolgis, who witnessed the crash, said the bus appeared to drive through a lowered crossing barrier. “Boom! It went into the train like that,”Lolgis said. “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.”
Ambulances, fire trucks and police vehicles flooded the scene as rescue crews worked on the mangled wreckage of the bus.
The accident occurred just outside a suburban Via Rail station in Ottawa’s west end.
The train tracks in the area cross both a major city street and a transit line reserved for buses only.
http://www.am980.ca/2013/09/18/ottawa-via-rail/
