Canada’s deadliest road crashes, from Dorion to the Humboldt Broncos

Online Journalist  Global News

Those is attendance embrace each other at the conclusion of the service to honour the Humboldt Broncos.

All across the country, Canadians fell into mourning after deadly bus crash that killed 10 members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, a radio play-by-play announcer, two coaches and the driver.

The cause of the crash remains unknown.

Coverage of the crash that killed members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team on Globalnews.ca:

But it’s not the first time a deadly incident like this one has unfolded on Canada’s roads.

Canadian highways have borne witness to several fatal crashes – and for a number of them, the trauma has not faded with the years.

Here are some of Canada’s deadliest road accidents:

July 31, 1953 — Morrisburg, Ont. — 20 dead

A bus fell into a canal after it hit a stalled truck in southeastern Ontario, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Jan. 30, 1954 — Yamachiche, Que. — 15 dead

This was an incident that saw a collision between an auto-transport truck and a bus, killing 15, reported the Canadian Encyclopedia.

Nov. 20, 1960 — Lamont, Alta. — 17 dead

Photo of the aftermath of a devastating bus crash in Lamont, Alta. on Nov. 20, 1960.

File photo

Students at Chipman High School hopped on a school bus for a trip to Lamont, Alta. A freight train hit the bus as it was crossing the tracks, killing 17 students.

Oct. 7, 1966 — Dorion, Que. — 21 dead

A bus was carrying high school students to a dance in Hudson when it reached a set of railroad tracks while the crossing gates were up. Twenty students and the driver were killed when the bus was hit by a freight train.

Aug. 4, 1978 — Eastman, Que. — 41 dead

People with mental and physical disabilities from Quebec’s Asbestos region were travelling in a bus when, according to one passenger, the brakes failed before it fell into Lac d’Argent, floating for as long as five minutes before it sank, according to United Press International (UPI).

May 28, 1980 — Webb, Sask. — 22 dead

At the time it happened, a school bus crash in Webb, Sask. was seen as one of the worst that ever took place in Canada. It still is. The bus was carrying Canadian Pacific Railway workers when first a car crashed into the bus, putting it on its side before a tanker truck hit it, the Regina Leader-Post reported.

Dec. 30, 1986 — Swift Current Broncos — 4 dead

Luggage and equipment bags lie strewn around the Swift Current Broncos’ bus following an accident Dec. 30, 1986 in which four players were killed. The mishap occurred at about 3:45 p.m. CST on the Trans-Canada highway about six kilometres east of Swift Current.

Bob Jamieson/Regina Leader-Post via CP

Four members of the Swift Current Broncos died after their team bus slid off the highway as they began a road trip. Survivors of the crash, including former NHLer Sheldon Kennedy, flew to Saskatoon to support the families of Humboldt Broncos players after the crash near Tisdale.

Oct. 8, 1989 — Cormier Village, N.B. — 13 dead

Members of the McGraw and Leger families had reunited for a Thanksgiving hayride in New Brunswick’s Cormier Village. Then a logging truck hit hit their wagon, killing 12 people, United Press International (UPI) reported.

July 16, 1993 — Lac-Bouchette, Que. — 19 dead

A minibus was involved in a head-on collision with a pickup truck, killing 19 people including 17 parishioners from a single church congregation in Vercheres, reported UPI.

Oct. 13, 1997 — Les Eboulements, Que. — 44 dead

This Oct. 13, 1997, file photo, shows a bus on its side after it plunged into a ravine in Les Eboulements, northeast of Quebec City, killing 44 people.

Jacques Boissinot/AP

To this day, it’s Canada’s deadliest road accident. A bus was carrying 47 elderly people when it went down a hill, the brakes failed and it fell into a ravine, killing 44 passengers, La Presse reported.

Sept. 3, 1999 — outside Windsor, Ont. — 8 dead

Ambulance paramedics transport a victim to hospital following a multi-vehicle pileup involving more that 60 vehicles near Windsor, Ont. Friday, Sept. 3, 1999.

Jason Kryk/Windsor Star via CP

It was a foggy day on Highway 401 when 87 vehicles piled up in low visibility, killing eight people, according to the Windsor Star.

March 16, 2000 — St.-Jean-Baptiste-de-Nicolet, Que. — 8 dead

Two unidentified women hug as they visit the site where two minivans collided, one carrying 10 children from a daycare centre on Friday, March 17, 2000 in St-Jean-Baptiste de Nicolet, Que.

Paul Chiasson/CP

Seven young children from a private daycare were killed when the minivan transporting them collided with another vehicle, BBC News reported. Their driver, the operator of the daycare, later said she had asked for help transporting the children to an activity but could not find anyone to assist her, the Globe and Mail reported.

Jan. 12, 2008 — Bathurst, N.B. — 8 dead

RCMP officers remove a tarp covering a van that was carrying the Bathurst High School boys’ basketball team that collided with a transport truck while returning from a game in Bathurst, N.B., on January 12, 2008.

Andrew Vaughan/CP

A van that carried members of the Bathurst High School basketball team collided with a semi-truck, killing seven teens and their coach’s wife.

Feb. 5, 2012 — Hampstead, Ont. — 11 dead

Ontario Provincial Police and emergency crews investigate a multiple fatal motor vehicle accident near Hampstead, Ontario, Monday, February 6, 2012.

Dave Chidley/CP

This incident saw a flatbed truck hit a passenger van that was carrying migrant workers, The National Post reported. The crash pushed the van 75 metres and 11 were killed in the collision.