Girl killed in school bus accident near Edmonton

THORHILD COUNTY A teenage girl was killed after a dump truck slammed into the back of a school bus Wednesday morning on a foggy rural road in Thorhild County, 85 kilometres northeast of Edmonton, RCMP say.

Emergency responders declared the girl dead at the scene after being called to the 8 a.m. crash near Range Road 223 and Township Road 593 in Thorhild County, said authorities.

“The school bus had turned southbound on Opal Road from Township Road 594 when it was rear ended by the semi-tractor,” RCMP spokesman Cpl. Ronald Bumbry said in a news release.

The school bus driver was taking 15 students to the K-12 Thorhild Central School, said Ross Hunter, communications officer for Aspen View Public Schools.

The bus driver and other students on the bus were assessed by emergency crews, but did not require medical attention, Hunter said.

The district has contacted the families of all the students on the bus, and sent extra counsellors to the school Wednesday, he said.

The school district administration is “deeply saddened” by the death of one of their students, superintendent Mark Francis said in a release.

“We pledge our ongoing support to all those affected by today ’s tragedy,” Francis said.

At noon Wednesday, crash scene investigators remained on scene photographing the aftermath on Range Road 223.

Residents have raised concerns about speeding vehicles on the 23-km stretch of road where the collision occurred, according to a report to Thorhild County council last month. There are six school bus stops on that stretch of road. Traffic studies in February 2017 and February 2018 found the number of vehicles using the road has increased during the past year, and the proportion of vehicles travelling 15 km/h faster than the 100 km/ h speed limit — or higher — has increased to 38 per cent from 23 per cent in one year.

“This is not conducive to a safe pedestrian/vehicle environment,” chief administrative officer Wayne Franklin concludes in the report.

Two people wrote to the county last month with concerns about increased truck traffic and speeding, with one of them suggesting drivers may be cutting through the area to avoid a weigh station for trucks.

The county had a peace officer to enforce speed limits, but he was let go in the fall, Franklin said Wednesday. The council has since asked him to fill the peace officer position.

RCMP have not said if speed was a factor in the collision.