OTTAWA, June 15 (Reuters) – At least 15 people were killed in Canada’s prairie province of Manitoba on Thursday after a semi-trailer truck struck a vehicle normally used to transport the elderly and disabled, the Winnipeg Free Press newspaper reported.
The crash happened near the southwestern Manitoba town of Carberry, 170 km (105 miles) west of Winnipeg, the report said. If the death toll is confirmed, it would be one of the deadliest traffic accidents in Canada’s recent history.
Canadian Broadcasting Corp broadcast video of the scene, which showed firefighters spraying water at a burning white vehicle parked in a roadside ditch. There was also a still image of a blue truck with its front smashed in.
The Winnipeg Free Press said the second vehicle was operated by Handi-Transit, which transports the elderly and people with disabilities. The CTV station also reported that 15 people had died.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said all available forces would be deployed to the scene. Manitoba health officials said a “mass response to victims” was underway.
The Manitoba Police Department is due to brief reporters at 4:30 p.m. (21:30 GMT).
“My heart breaks to hear the news of the tragic accident near Carberry,” Manitoba Premier Heather Stefanson said on Twitter.
In neighboring Saskatchewan, 16 people died in April 2018 after a truck hit a bus carrying a junior hockey team on a country road. The truck driver was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2019.
Reporting by Ismail Shakil and David Ljunggren in Ottawa; Edited by Diane Craft and Grant McCool
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