Students and adults on the School District 27 (SD27) bus which crashed down a steep embankment just north of Lac la Hache Friday (June 21) continue to recover from their injuries.
“There were no life-threatening injuries [on the bus], but there were broken bones,” said SD27 superintendent Chris van der Mark of the students and adults who suffered varying injuries.
“It’s as best as we could have hoped for given the circumstances.”
The bus was bringing Grades 6 and 7 100 Mile House and Horse Lake elementary school students home from a field trip at Gavin Lake when it left the highway and went over a steep embankment on a corner at Butler Road north of Lac La Hache.
There was a subsequent collision on the highway where a pedestrian was struck by a vehicle. BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) attended the scene but despite life-saving efforts, the person did not survive, noted RCMP.
Witnesses on the scene said it was a good Samaritan who was struck trying to cross the highway to help.
Crystal Dawn-Langton, principal of 100 Mile Elementary, said her heart stopped when she got the call the bus carrying her students had been involved in an accident. As an educator, Dawn-Langton remarked you develop strong bonds with your students and she was immediately concerned with finding out the condition of the 17 students from her school and the 14 from Horse Lake.
"Initially I was just taking phone calls from parents, parents obviously asking are my kids at the school or not. It's a busy time of year and a lot of field trips are happening," Dawn-Langton said. "I was advised by the RCMP the South Cariboo Rec Centre would be a place to get information."
Dawn-Langton said one of her colleagues and predecessor, Maria Hamilton, came down from Mile 108 Elementary to take over running the school so she could go to the rec centre and be with parents as they came in. However, she said many parents ended up going directly to the scene of the accident, at the intersection of Wright Station Road, themselves.
"The information trickled in student by student as that information was released to us," Dawn-Langton said. "There's sort of dichotomous reaction. There's the relief that all of my kids are being returned to their families, but still that sickening feeling in your heart that your kids are hurt. It's sickening worrying about the kids, their parents and their families."
Multiple resources were dispatched to the scene including 11 ambulances and response units with primary care and advanced care paramedics, seven air ambulances with critical care paramedics, and multiple supervisors and area managers, confirmed BCEHS.
Van der Mark confirmed students treated at Cariboo Memorial Hospital in Williams Lake have since been released to their parents.
“There is a lot of relief from families based on what they saw and what could have been … obviously there was a tragedy,” van der Mark said referring to the death of the pedestrian.
“There are no words … we express our deep condolences to their family.”
Everyone at 100 Mile Elementary also offers their condolences to the family of the victim, Dawn-Langton confirmed.
On Sunday she invited anyone who was impacted by the crash be they students, family, teachers or staff to gather at the school to access resources. This included Interior Health, Cariboo Christian Life Fellowship pastor Rick Barker and Tsq̓éscen̓ First Nation elder Mike Archie, who offered some healing songs and smudging.
"We're really just here providing a safe place for the kids to land. Being loving and gentle with them as they come back," Dawn-Langton said. "There's quite a lot of them that came back Monday and Tuesday that were on the field trip, it's really great to see them. They might know everyone is okay but seeing each other and coming to school, having that sense of normalcy (is important)."
Van der Mark noted his gratitude to the staff “who put the kids first and to the first responders and passersby who helped.
"It’s powerful when people work together,” he remarked.
He noted the bus driver has been in contact with the district. There is no information at this time on the extent of their injuries or why the bus left the highway. A full investigation of the crash is underway.
Anyone who was travelling in the area and has dash camera footage or witnessed either collision is asked to contact BCHP- 100 Mile House at 250-395-2456.
Dawn-Langton acknowledged that the community wants answers about what happened, but encourages everyone to be patient as the investigation proceeds.
"I think that we need to offer some compassion to the driver who is probably living their own nightmare thinking about (the crash) right now. Being caring and kind and sending out those kinds of messages is really important," Dawn-Langton remarked. "Nobody was critically injured on the bus, everyone has returned home. Maybe a little worse for wear, certainly, some are sporting casts, but everyone has been returned home. It's the best of a really bad situation."
With files from Angie Mindus.
