QUESTIONS SWIRLING AROUND FATAL OTTAWA BUS CRASH
The investigation into a deadly bus crash on a busy Ottawa route will not yield answers quickly, the city’s police chief said Saturday as he cautioned the public not to jump to conclusions about the events leading up to the collision.
Charles Bordeleau said officers have plenty of work ahead of them as they probe the Friday afternoon collision that killed three and injured 23 others.
The double-decker bus operated by local transportation agency OC Transpo hopped a curb and struck a transit shelter at about 3:50 p.m. just as rush hour began. It plowed along a station platform and into the overhanging roof of the transit shelter, which carved deep into the vehicle’s upper level and crushed a number of seats.
The majority of the patients injured in the crash have been released from hospital, police said, with just one remaining in critical condition while six are listed as serious and four are considered stable.
Bordeleau cautioned that answers will be slow in coming as the police tackle a mammoth investigation.
“There were 90 people on the bus, we have to speak to all of them,’’ Bordeleau said at a Saturday afternoon news conference.
“It’s a slow, painstaking process. Our goal is to ensure that we get it right.’’
On Saturday evening, more than 24 hours after the collision, police finished documenting the scene and re-opened nearby roads. The area looked different a day earlier, when Jack Mailloux was cycling home and happened upon the scene of the accident.
Road blocks and dozens of emergency vehicles made it clear the incident was not minor, he said.
“I live in Carlingwood and that’s my bus stop when I’m not biking. So it’s quite a concern.’’
While the cause of the crash is still unknown, Mailloux said he has often noted the express buses travelling through the area at high speeds. This particular bus was not scheduled to stop at the Westboro station, which is another aspect being probed in the investigation.
Mailloux says his first thought was for his wife and son, who were scheduled to be travelling through the area shortly after the crash.