National Post (National Edition)
OTTAWA CRASH WAS BUS DRIVER’S THIRD IN LESS THAN A YEAR ON THE ROAD.
THREE MUCH-LOVED FEDERAL CIVIL SERVANTS LOST THEIR LIVES WHEN OC TRANSPO 63 CRASHED FRIDAY
A“beautiful soul,” a mother with extended family in the Netherlands and a dad beloved for his sense of humour were the people killed in Ottawa’s horrific bus crash last week, the city’s police revealed Monday.
All three were public servants in the federal government. The collision injured nearly two dozen more and its cause is still uncertain.
Yet even as the city grieved with the families of those killed and police continued their investigation, the chair of the federal Transportation Safety Board took aim at the federal government for not doing more to increase bus safety.
Bruce Thomlinson, 56, Judy Booth, 57, and Anja Van Beek, 65, were fatally hurt when a double-decker bus slammed into a shelter at a station west of downtown Ottawa at the start of the evening rush hour on Friday. It was on an express route from the city core, beginning a long run without a stop on its way to a western suburb.
Thomlinson worked for the Canada Border Services Agency and Van Beek worked for the federal Treasury Board.
Booth had retired from the National Capital Commission but still worked there part-time on contract.
In separate statements, the three families remembered their loved ones.
“Bruce was dedicated to his family and will be missed by his wife and his two boys, and extended family and friends,” Thomlinson’s family wrote, adding that he “gave us great joy in life through his silliness, sense of humour and love of the outdoors.”
“Judy was a cherished wife to Ches and loving mother to both of her girls, Holly and Karen,” Booth’s family wrote.
“She was an absolute treasure and a beautiful soul that will be profoundly missed by her family and many friends.”
Van Beek similarly left behind a husband and two daughters as well as family in Ottawa, Toronto and the Netherlands. “As you can understand, her family is grieving and would appreciate if you respected their privacy.”
While the families of the three grappled with their loss over the weekend, some federal civil servants only learned what had happened to their co-workers upon returning to work on Monday.
An email sent to CBSA staff Monday morning said one employee there had been killed and one seriously injured, and two other workers had family members hurt in the crash. One employee told The Canadian Press staff members were in tears after learning Thomlinson had been killed.
Writing on Twitter, the Treasury Board said: “We are sad to report that one of our own, Anja Van Beek, lost her life in Friday’s tragic accident in Ottawa. We send our most sincere condolences to her family and all who were close to her.”
Besides Thomlinson, Booth and Van Beek, 23 people were injured badly enough to be taken to hospitals by paramedics after the express bus slammed into the station shelter, the roof slicing into the vehicle’s upper deck.
Defence officials confirmed that nearly a dozen of those hurt worked at the Department of National Defence, which has set up support services for those affected by the crash as well as their families.
Several of the survivors had limbs amputated, said Ottawa police Const. Chuck Benoit.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson acknowledged the horror of the accident and thanked first responders for working in challenging conditions as he signed a book of condolences set up at city hall on Monday.
“This is a very difficult time for our city,” Watson said. “Our city is grieving.”
Greg Lang was among the first on Monday to sign the book.
Lang was on the No. 63 bus late last Friday afternoon, heading west along the Transitway from his downtown workplace, at Bell Canada on Elgin Street, to his home in Kanata. The bus he was on hadn’t yet reached the Westboro station, where a terrible crash had occurred about 40 minutes earlier, and as ambulances sped past his bus, his cellphone rang. It was his son, Wyatt, calling from Toronto. Wyatt had heard about the crash, and was calling to make sure his dad was all right.
“To receive a call like that,” Lang said, “you start to feel the impact of it. It really hit home when he said, ‘Dad, are you OK?’ “
“I wanted to show my respect, to say that our prayers are with them,” said Lang, “and that everyone involved heal as quickly as possible.”
Others who stopped by to sign the book expressed similar thoughts.
“It’s important for people in the city to do that,” said Centretown resident John Young.
“We’re all neighbours together, and we shouldn’t just let that go by.”
“The whole community is affected,” Lise Drolet noted. “It’s hard to believe that in the city of Ottawa, such a beautiful city, we go through these accidents, so I had to come and sign, and also reflect on the fragility of life. We’re in Ottawa. We feel safe, and when these things happen, it reminds us that we should appreciate every day. Every day is a gift.
“That’s a bus I take once in a while,” she added, “so it could have been me sitting on the second floor.”
IT REALLY HIT HOME WHEN HE SAID, ‘DAD, ARE YOU OK?’