One pedestrian dead, others injured after Canada Place bus crash
Posted August 13, 2017 10:59 am.
Last Updated August 13, 2017 5:16 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – One person has died and two others have been injured after a crash involving a tour bus near Burrard Street and Canada Place Way this morning.
Vancouver Police say the injured pedestrians are all tourists. The man who died was 49-years-old, a 15-year-old girl sustained minor injuries, and an elderly man remains in hospital with serious injuries.
It appears the bus was travelling at low speeds when it collided with a parked SUV, before jumping the curb.
People were pinned under the bus and freed by emergency crews.
Sergeant Jason Robillard with the VPD says the pedestrians were around the parked car when they were hit.
“The position of where they were will form part of the investigation, but they were requiring extraction from Vancouver Fire and Rescue.”
There’s no word on whether anyone inside the bus required any medical assistance. Investigators have not yet determined who is at fault.
“There is always the potential for criminal charges in any type of investigation. I don’t know what the charges would be but I do know that definitely there are criminal charges that will be investigated or at least explored.”
Robillard says the incident is a tragedy, and the VPD is calling for witnesses.
Kristen was in the area when it happened.
“We heard the screech of the brakes, the crash of the glass, we turned and we all started going that direction at first. And then people just started screaming so my mum and I walked the other way. But my dad and my husband kept walking that way. But we didn’t want to see.”
Her husband Ray says everyone around was urging the driver not to move the bus.
“We saw two gentlemen under the tire, one in the front tire and one beneath the back tire.”
“There was nothing we could do, the bus couldn’t back up, couldn’t go forward. So unfortunately, they had to wait til the rescue people got here to lift up the bus.”
Mushfiqur Rahman works nearby and says first responders arrived quickly.
“Somebody called and in less than a minute, I think, emergency services came.”
Passengers who were on the bus at the time were escorted off by police after firefighters freed those trapped underneath.
It’s unclear what caused the vehicle to veer off the road. Police are continuing to investigate.
