6 Dead After Train Collides With Bus in Ottawa

A train collided with a city double-decker bus during rush hour.

ByABC News
September 18, 2013, 10:26 AM

Sept. 18, 2013 — -- A train collided with a city double-decker bus in Canada's capital of Ottawa during today's morning rush hour, causing six deaths and dozens of injuries, authorities said.

At least five people were killed at the scene and 31 injured after a Via Rail train en route to Toronto collided with an OC Transpo bus at 8:48 a.m. local time, Canadian officials said. The accident occurred outside a suburban train station in the city's west end. A sixth person died after being transported to the hospital, officials said.

Police said that the front end of the bus, which was travelling north on Ottawa's Transitway, was ripped off by the impact.

Ottawa fire department spokesman Mark Messier said that no one on the train was injured.

"Boom! It went into the train like that," Pascal Lolgis, who witnessed the crash, told the Associated Press. "He just didn't stop."

Lolgis told the AP that the bus appeared to drive through a lowered crossing barrier.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson posted messages about the crash on their Twitter feeds.