A semi-trailer slammed into a bus carrying a youth hockey team in western Canada, killing 15 people and injuring 14 in a catastrophic collision that a doctor compared to an airstrike and left the vehicles obliterated in the snow. The crash sent shockwaves of grief through the team\u2019s small hometown and a country united by the national sport.<\/p>\n
As details of Friday\u2019s accident on a highway in Saskatchewan emerged, Canadians were moved to tears on Saturday as they learned of the identities of the deceased on a bus driving the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a crucial playoff game.<\/p>\n
\u201cAn entire country is in shock and mourning,\u201d Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said. \u201cThis is every parent\u2019s worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The bus had 29 passengers, including the driver, when it crashed at about 5 p.m. on Highway 35, Canadian police said. Among the dead are Broncos head coach Darcy Haugan, team captain Logan Schatz and radio announcer Tyler Bieber. Authorities earlier said three were in critical but later provided an update to say that 15 have now died.<\/p>\n
Canadian police said the truck driver was initially detained but has since been released and provided with mental health assistance. Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said it\u2019s too early to state a cause for the crash.<\/p>\n
In a tweet, US President Donald Trump said he called Trudeau to offer his condolences to the families of victims. Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks, who the Broncos were set to play against, said a semi T-boned the players\u2019 bus -an account police confirmed. \u201cIt\u2019s a horrible accident, my God,\u201d Opp said.<\/p>\n
Hassan Masri, an emergency room doctor at Saskatoon\u2019s Royal University Hospital who has done work in war-torn Syria, said the crash reminded him of an airstrike. Photographs of the wreckage showed the twisted trailer with most of its wheels in the air and the bus on its side and its back portion destroyed.<\/p>\n
Kelly Schatz, Logan\u2019s father, says his 20-year-old son played for the Broncos for just over four years and had served as team captain for the past two years. Meanwhile, tributes poured in online for coach Haugan, a father of two who was described as an amazing mentor to young players.<\/p>\n
The names of others killed have not been confirmed. STARS air ambulance said it sent three helicopters to the scene. The tragedy brought to mind an accident in 1986, when the Swift Current Broncos team bus slid off an icy highway and crashed in late December, killing four players.<\/p>\n
The Humboldt Broncos are a close-knit team from the small city of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, which has a population of about 6,000. Many gathered at the community center at the hockey arena there after word of the horrific crash began to circulate.<\/p>\n
Humboldt Mayor Rob Muench, wearing a green and yellow Broncos team jersey, hugged people Saturday morning as they came to the Elger Petersen Arena in the Saskatchewan town to comfort each other and learn more. \u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming. It\u2019s been tough on everybody,\u201d Muench said in a phone interview. \u201cWe\u2019re a small community; some of those kids have been on the team for a number of years. A lot grew up in the community and everybody knows each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team was on its way to play in Game 5 of a semi-final against the Nipawin Hawks. \u201cHockey was what brought us all together and we had two communities that were rivals in the rink. To find out that it was their first responders that aided our boys just warms your heart,\u201d the mayor said as his voice cracked.<\/p>\n
Multiple crisis workers were assisting relatives and friends. \u201cEverybody is just so devastated. These poor young boys,\u201d said Penny Lee, the communications manager for the town of Humboldt<\/p>\n
The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a junior `A\u2019 hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It\u2019s open to North American-born players between the ages of 16 and 20.<\/p>\n
Team President Kevin Garinger said parents from across western Canada were struggling to cope with the tragedy and were rushing to the scene. \u201cOur whole community is in shock, we are grieving and we will continue to grieve throughout this ordeal as we try to work toward supporting each other,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Michelle Straschnitzki, who lives in Airdrie, Alberta, said her 18-year old son Ryan was transported to a hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. \u201cWe talked to him, but he said he couldn\u2019t feel his lower extremities so I don\u2019t know what\u2019s going on,\u201d she said. \u201cI am freaking out. I am so sad for all of the teammates and I am losing my mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
Garinger said he still didn\u2019t know the fate of one of the players living in his home. \u201cWe just need to try to support each other as we deal with this incredible loss to our community, to our province, to our hockey world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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