[quote]At least five people are dead after a Via Rail train and an Ottawa city collided in the city’s southwest end Wednesday morning, Ottawa Fire says. Witnesses say the bus appeared to run through warning symbols at a train crossing.
The front end of the double-decker OC Transpo bus is severely damaged, images from the scene near Woodroffe Avenue and Fallowfield Road show. Witnesses say the front part of the bus was ripped off by the impact, which occurred in the middle of the morning commute, at about 8:50 a.m.
Robert Kurtenbach, who was on the top level of the bus, told the [I]Ottawa Citizen that the bus didn’t appear to slow down at all as the train went through the crossing.
He was thrown forward by the impact and twisted his leg, but said he wasn’t seriously injured.
“I could see bodies lying there,” he said. He said he could see “more than two or three” people that were severely injured and he could not see the driver at all.[/quote]
[URL="http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/18/via-train-and-ottawa-city-bus-collide-reports-of-multiple-fatalities/"]Source[/URL]
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Grim news from my neck of the woods. I've been on those express buses in the morning and they are packed with students.
Yeah i currently go to Algonquin College just down the road from the accident. Seems pretty grim here. They had the road all blocked off on my drive in this morning.
[QUOTE=Jester.;42233811]Yeah i currently go to Algonquin College just down the road from the accident. Seems pretty grim here. They had the road all blocked off on my drive in this morning.[/QUOTE]
My dad is giving me a ride down to uOttawa today so I can avoid taking the transitway. A friend of mine just narrowly missed being on that bus.
There is at least 1 person out there who missed that bus.
And he feels so lucky probably.
[QUOTE=Valiantttt;42234030]There is at least 1 person out there who missed that bus.
And he feels so lucky probably.[/QUOTE]
Here's a picture a friend of mine took
[IMG]http://oi39.tinypic.com/w0jf42.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Kinversulath;42233787][B]At least five people are dead after a Via Rail train and an Ottawa city [/B]collided in the city’s southwest end Wednesday morning, Ottawa Fire says[/QUOTE]
Those fucking cities man, always getting in the way of my trains, the bastards.
Wow, more ottawa people on fp? My sister goes to algonquin but thankfully she wasnt on that bus. I was nervous when I got on a double decker 95 today since hearing about this.
Condolences to everyone affected by this tragedy :(
Latest images seem to show the bus hit the side of the engine. If it had hit strait on the front it could've been much worse.
[IMG_thumb]http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/39.jpg[/IMG_thumb]
[IMG_thumb]http://wpmedia.news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/43.jpg?w=940&h=686[/IMG_thumb]
More media is available on the source page.
Absolutely horrific.
I picked my sister up from Fallowfield Station yesterday. I drove over that crossing on our way downtown. She was supposed to leave by train tonight back home. Looks like she'll be taking the Greyhound : /
I haven't been able to find out which route it was. I'm guessing it was the 157?
[url]https://soundcloud.com/shaaminiwhy/first-responders-notified-of[/url]
Don't click the link unless you have a strong stomach. It's, uh, not safe for life. It's the radio traffic for the accident.
Honestly, this is just terrible. Everything I've heard so far has implicated the driver - who died in the crash. I always complain about news in Ottawa not making national headlines, this isn't what I had in mind...
drove by it earlier. It looked like a real nasty accident, to say the least.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/okFvrhc.jpg[/IMG]
It was the 76 express Sixer
Hmm. Thankfully I don't think I know anyone who was on it. I know some folks who go to the Gonq though, but they all take the 118 or the 95.
I can't believe this crash took place here though. It's one of the busiest train crossings in the city - everything that comes in from Toronto and Kingston goes through that crossing on its way downtown. And with the dedicated bus lane I just can't believe this happened. For anyone not from Ottawa reading this, the name Fallowfield [I]literally[/I] describes where this place is. It's a newish suburb in Ottawa, and there are still some farms that have refused to sell off to developers (good on them, I say). That bus had a clear line of sight to the train over flat ground. How they managed to collide frankly beggars belief.
[QUOTE=Sixer;42236933]How they managed to collide frankly beggars belief.[/QUOTE]
It was said that the passengers were yelling at the driver to stop. I heard it on the radio during class. Not sure who reported it.
Huh, Via actually bused all of its passengers today. Free food and bathroom breaks; well I guess it was the right thing for them to do.
[QUOTE=Sixer;42237404]Huh, Via actually bused all of its passengers today. Free food and bathroom breaks; well I guess it was the right thing for them to do.[/QUOTE]
I was expecting the bussing away, but didn't think about the free food. As bad as this is, it seems to be handling well so far.
On a whole other, unrelated, note. Why the hell is my flag a US flag?
Yeah all things considered it's being handled well I think. Such a horrible thing to happen... one of my friend's dads is an OC driver, and thankfully he wasn't operating that bus today. He and his family are shaken up though.
[QUOTE=Sixer;42236933]Hmm. Thankfully I don't think I know anyone who was on it. I know some folks who go to the Gonq though, but they all take the 118 or the 95.
I can't believe this crash took place here though. It's one of the busiest train crossings in the city - everything that comes in from Toronto and Kingston goes through that crossing on its way downtown. And with the dedicated bus lane I just can't believe this happened. For anyone not from Ottawa reading this, the name Fallowfield [I]literally[/I] describes where this place is. It's a newish suburb in Ottawa, and there are still some farms that have refused to sell off to developers (good on them, I say). That bus had a clear line of sight to the train over flat ground. How they managed to collide frankly beggars belief.[/QUOTE]
Right on the Greenbelt as well, but yeah, it would be very difficult to miss a train on that approach. Not to mention they're slowing down as they approach the train station and surrounding suburbs.
Driver has been ID'd as Dave Woodard. I'm hoping something comes out of this to vindicate the driver as a lot of people are finding it very easy to quickly write it off as driver negligence.
[QUOTE=Kinversulath;42237711]Right on the Greenbelt as well, but yeah, it would be very difficult to miss a train on that approach. Not to mention they're slowing down as they approach the train station and surrounding suburbs.
Driver has been ID'd as Dave Woodard. I'm hoping something comes out of this to vindicate the driver as a lot of people are finding it very easy to quickly write it off as driver negligence.[/QUOTE]
There's already speculation that he may have been hung over or sleep deprived as his wife's birthday was the day before. Either way its shocking to hear about something like this so close to home. OC Transpo gets a lot of flak by the public but I've rarely heard of massive bus accidents here.
I skipped school to play grand theft auto 5 today. Judging by the time of the accident from when I get on, relative to where it happened, this is the bus I would have been on on my way to school today...
Video games saved my life
Shit, just got word on one of the dead. My brother knew him fairly well and I certainly recognized the name from my time in high school. A lot of people I know were good friends with him.
Not going to re-post it here as it isn't my place to do so, but damn.
[QUOTE=alexk;42236825]drove by it earlier. It looked like a real nasty accident, to say the least.
[IMG]http://i.imgur.com/okFvrhc.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
"The bus is over there."
Human error.
It's always human error in the nastiest of accidents. Aren't buses legally required to stop at crossings? Why were people screaming at the driver to stop, and why was he ignoring them? Why would someone with years of job experience and plenty of training just fold like that?
[QUOTE=ewitwins;42240600]Human error.
It's always human error in the nastiest of accidents. Aren't buses legally required to stop at crossings? Why were people screaming at the driver to stop, and why was he ignoring them? Why would someone with years of job experience and plenty of training just fold like that?[/QUOTE]
In Ottawa (I have no clue about the rest of Canada tbh) it's not required by public transportation buses (OC Transpo) to stop at rail crossings. Yellow school buses do though.
And honestly, no one really knows (and I don't know if they'll find out) why it happened. The driver could have had a heart attack, the brakes could've failed, it was a freak accident, or a suicide attempt, or something else. Who knows man.
[QUOTE=Valiantttt;42234030]There is at least 1 person out there who missed that bus.
And he feels so lucky probably.[/QUOTE]
That person just so happens to be a Facepuncher
[url]http://facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1250426&p=42239978&viewfull=1#post42239978[/url]
[editline]12:25am[/editline]
Well shit he's already posted in this thread, oh well still keeping link up
This is stirring up the debate about how adequate the hundreds of rail crossings Canada has. We already have idiots advocating for all level crossings to have bells lights and shit, even if they're in the middle of fuck-all nowhere. There's also the complaint that an underpass was never built at this particular crossing years back because nobody could afford the $80 million pricetag.
[QUOTE=MIPS;42241117]This is stirring up the debate about how adequate the hundreds of rail crossings Canada has..[/QUOTE]
They're fine just how they are. You should be paying enough attention while driving to see a long train in the distance . I'm also pretty sure that most major crossings have lights and bells anyway.
[QUOTE=Sweet Berries;42240127]I skipped school to play grand theft auto 5 today. Judging by the time of the accident from when I get on, relative to where it happened, this is the bus I would have been on on my way to school today...
Video games saved my life[/QUOTE]
I find this kind of ironic
Another name is out and its somebody else I know, and the brother of one of my close friends.
RIP Connor Boyd & Kyle Nash.
Jesus wept. A guy I know from grade-school who was -thankfully- not on the bus either. It's moments like this that remind me that Ottawa can be a really small town sometimes.
The full list of names has been released:
David Woodard, 45
Connor Boyd, 21
Kyle Nash, 21
Michael Bleakney, 57
Rob More, 35
Karen Krzyzewski, 53
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