Schoolbus Driver Safety – Pre-Trip Inspection Fatality File

Bathurst Boys in Red Accident

The accident occurred on New Brunswick Route 8 shortly after midnight on January 12, when the team coach was driving the Bathurst High School basketball team northward back from a game in Moncton against the Moncton High School Purple Knights in an E350 Ford Club Wagon. Light freezing rain and low visibility created poor, slippery driving conditions. As the van approached the Bathurst city limits, the coach lost control and veered in front of a southbound semi-trailer truck. The truck collided with the side of the van and the two vehicles came to rest on the shoulder of the southbound lane of the highway approximately 40 metres (130 ft) from the point of impact.

The police officer who discovered the wreck initially suspected that only the semi had gone off the road. After further investigation, he found the van and called for emergency services, whose arrival was delayed by freezing rain. The rear wall and a large portion of the right-hand side of the van, including three rows of seats, had been torn away, ejecting several occupants.

Seven players aged 15–17 and the wife of the team coach, 51, were pronounced dead at the scene. The coach, his daughter and the two other players survived the accident and were rushed to Chaleur Regional Hospital in Bathurst. Of the injured, one was listed in critical condition, and two others were stable. The fourth was released shortly after the accident. The driver of the truck was not injured.

Source: En.wikipedia.org