Ontario School Bus Crash Injures 12

BRAMPTON, Ont.-- Twelve children have been injured, including a young boy in critical condition, after a serious school bus accident near Brampton, Ont. on a busy highway.

The accident occurred in the northbound lanes of Highway 410 between Steeles Ave. and Clark Blvd. at about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The bus was involved in a minor collision with a tractor-trailer that was hauling a load of lumber, according to Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Cam Woolley.

"It was a side-swipe type collision between the two. We have yet to determine what exactly transpired," Woolley told CTV.ca.

"The school bus then drove into the grass median that separates the north and southbound lanes."

"It's soft muddy ground. The school bus came to a stop there, it did not overturn and I guess the jostling and the off-road sort of event with the bus injured some of the children," Woolley told CTV Newsnet earlier.

He added that two children suffered serious injuries.

One young boy was found by emergency crews without vital signs. The 10-year-old was later revived on the way to William Osler Health Centre. His parents were rushed to the hospital by OPP officers.

Hospital spokesperson Terry O'Donovan said the hospital has "various pediatricians and emergency physicians" attending the young victim and five other children who were taken to the hospital.

O'Donovan said the other victims have "various muscular-skeletal injuries and things of that nature but it is non-life threatening."

A total of 25 students and four adults were on the bus. As many as 13 children suffered minor injuries during the incident. Twelve were sent to the hospital and the other was sent to SickKids hospital in Toronto.

Ambulances and fire trucks on the scene cared for the remaining students. They were taken from the bus and transferred to another, according to Woolley.

Worried Parents

All the children were Grade 4 students at St. Alfred Catholic School on Havenwood Dr. in Mississauga. Four adults, including the bus driver, were also on board the bus.

Worried parents arrived at the school Wednesday morning, looking for information about their children.

"I hope he's alright," one worried mother told CTV's Tom Hayes at the school.

Later the school board said parents had been notified about their children.

"All the parents of students on the bus trip have been contacted ... and we will be communicating with all the parents by the end of the day by a letter home," Dufferin Peel School Board spokesperson Bruce Campbell said.

The school bus driver also suffered unspecified injuries.

Pat Pringle, the driver of the tractor-trailer, was not hurt.

"The kids were in rough shape, there was a couple of kids that were real bad," Pringle told CTV's John Musselman at the scene.

"You could just tell by looking at them (with) cuts and scratches and holding their arms, holding their legs."

Police investigating

Woolley said the impact was "relatively minor."

"But it did cause the bus to go into the median." Woolley added.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident and they expect to keep the northbound lanes of Hwy. 410 closed for much of the day while for their investigation.

"It's going to take as long as it takes, frankly, which we expect to be into the afternoon rush hour for a full reconstruction," Woolley said.

"Until you hear otherwise, it is an area certainly to be avoided."

The OPP asked anyone who witnessed the accident to call police at 1 (888) 310-1122 or the Port Credit Detachment at (905) 278-6131.

Seatbelts

As news of the accident filtered out, Ontario's transportation minister said she would review the use of seatbelts on school buses.

Donna Cansfield told CTV's Paul Bliss that she will call her federal counterpart to ask about Transport Canada research into seatbelts on school buses.

Transport Canada has been reviewing the seatbelt question for several years but no final decision has been reached.

Arguments in favour of seatbelts say it is safer to strap children in the seats to keep them from being thrown around during a collision or rollover.

But that raises the question of how children would be unbuckled in case of a fire or evacuation.

The large seats commonly found on school buses are believed to provide protection during impacts. During rollover accidents, however, children are left vulnerable.

Cansfield said things learned in this case will also be reviewed to determine if seatbelts would have made a difference.

Republished with permission of CTV.ca.