Two people have been killed and 12 others injured, two seriously so, when a bus collided with a BMW sedan on Tuesday night in Dorval, Montreal.
The accident occurred at an intersection between 55th and Lindsay Aves. in an industrial area of Dorval at around six pm, when the large STM passenger bus collided with two other vehicles and flipped onto its side, crushing a BMW sedan that was driving alongside the bus. The force of the smash was so great that a 61 year old woman, who was a passenger in the BMW, was ejected from the vehicle. The woman died on the scene.
The driver of the bus was also killed in the accident, a man in his mid-50s. His identity is yet to be revealed.
According to eye witness reports from passengers on the bus at the time of the accident, the driver was also ejected from the bus when it tipped. However, according to the Montreal police department, this has not yet been confirmed. It appears that the driver’s upper body was forced through a window and then crushed when the bus turned over.
Emergency services spokesperson, Mr. David Sasson, reported that the driver’s body was trapped underneath the bus when they arrived on the scene. Wooden planks were used by rescue personnel and firefighters to lift up the wreckage of the bus and free the body.
As well as the two fatalities, two others were seriously injured in the accident. The driver of the BMW, a woman, sustained severe chest and head injuries, while a passenger on the bus of unknown identity was also critically injured. Montreal police spokesperson Mr. Jean-Pierre Brabant has confirmed that both victims are currently stable in a local hospital, and are expected to recover from their injuries.
The passenger bus was heading west on Lindsay Avenue and the BMW was heading north on 55th Avenue when the collision occurred. It is still unclear as to the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, and police cannot report whether negligence on the part of either driver played a role in the accident.
According to a passenger on the bus, the bus went through a green traffic light, when it hit the BMW in the middle of the intersection. There were 14 passengers on the bus at the time of the accident. Emergency services responded to the accident and rescued passengers from the bus wreckage.