One dead, 12 injured in fiery bus/truck crash near McBride, B.C.

MCBRIDE, B.C. – The RCMP say one person is dead and 12 others injured after a semi-trailer truck collided with a passenger bus in northeastern British Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

Police say in a release that Mounties from the McBride, B.C., detachment, as well as other local emergency personnel, responded to the crash on Highway 16 just before 1:30 p.m.

RCMP Sgt. Janelle Shoihet says both vehicles were reportedly engulfed in flames and that the man driving the truck died at the scene just west of McBride, near the Alberta border.

She says in the release that 12 people from the bus, including the driver, were taken to hospital with injuries ranging from minor to serious. Shoihet also notes that three of the injured were transported to hospital by a passing motorist before police arrived.

While the investigation into the cause of the crash is still in its early stages, police say it appears the eastbound semi lost control and collided with the westbound bus.

No other information was immediately released about the crash, which caused the highway to be closed in both directions for several hours. This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2021.