‘Kind of like the scariest roller-coaster of your life’
Passenger recalls fiery crash between bus and pickup truck near Bethune
Riley Forseth considers himself fortunate, escaping with only a couple of cuts and some soreness after a fiery highway crash between a pickup truck and the small passenger bus in which he was riding.
He says the bus repeatedly rolled like some sort of terrifying fair ride. “Being in a rollover, it’s kind of like the scariest roller-coaster of your life I’d say,” the 19-yearold told the Leader-post during a Skype interview on Friday, one day after the collision. Forseth said the bus tumbled four or five times before coming to a stop.
The crash happened around 5:45 a.m. Thursday on Highway 11 near Bethune. According to an RCMP news release issued that evening, the bus was carrying four passengers and a driver as it travelled from Regina to Saskatoon. Forseth was making his way to Jasper, Alta.
The RCMP said a pickup truck coming off a grid road collided with the bus, causing it to roll and eject one of the occupants.
Forseth, four others from the bus, and one person from the truck were all transported to hospital after the crash. An RCMP spokesperson said the injuries ranged from minor to serious, but not life-threatening.
After he returned home to Regina, Forseth considered visiting his father, but couldn’t bear the thought of getting back into a vehicle. “I just couldn’t be in a car that day, or even think of going back on the highway,” he said.
In the moments leading up to the crash, Forseth recalled seeing the pickup truck roll through the stop sign on the far left of the highway, and proceed into the middle of the road. He said it happened so suddenly there wasn’t much the bus driver could do.
“He tried slamming on the brakes and it was already too late at that point, and he smashed right in the passenger side,” said Forseth.
Forseth and the other passengers were able to get out of the bus, which caught fire shortly afterwards. Forseth said the driver tried to put out the fire, but had lost his glasses and wasn’t able to see clearly.
After he got out of the bus, Forseth called his girlfriend Tasia Walker. She initially thought he was joking about the crash, but then realized he was serious as he frantically explained what happened.
“I just shot right out of bed. I started to panic, I started crying,” said Walker.
She said Forseth sounded like he was still in shock when he called.
Bethune Fire Department Chief Ashton Riche said the bus was fully engulfed in flames when firefighters arrived on scene. The RCMP said alcohol does not seem to be a factor in the collision.
All of Forseth’s luggage was lost in the fire, including his wallet with all of his identification and bank cards. Some of Walker’s belongings were also destroyed.
The two had recently accepted summer jobs in Jasper, and Forseth was making the trip out to start working. He said his company has been accommodating, and offered him extra time to make travel arrangements.
Cpl. Richard Kuhn with Lumsden RCMP said the bus belonged to a local charter company within the province. Some small charters picked up routes after the government-owned Saskatchewan Transportation company was shut down in 2017.
The investigation into the collision remains ongoing.
Bethune is located approximately 50 kilometres northwest of Regina.
He tried slamming on the brakes and it was already too late ... and he smashed right in the passenger side.