4 dead in B.C. bus crash that sent dozens to hospital, RCMP say

Four people have died and dozens more were injured in a serious bus crash on a highway in B.C.'s Southern Interior on Christmas Eve.

Kelowna RCMP confirmed the fatalities in a statement Sunday, saying officers were called to Highway 97C east of Merritt near the Loon Lake exit around 6 p.m.

"Four people are confirmed deceased and multiple people have sustained injuries," Mounties said in their statement.

"While the investigation is ongoing it is believed that extremely icy road conditions caused the rollover."

Officials said the passenger bus crash prompted a "Code Orange" response in the Interior Health Authority.

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Code Oranges are activated after disasters or mass casualty events.

Interior Health initially said Saturday night that 53 patients were taken to hospitals in Merritt, Kelowna and Penticton.

In an update on Sunday, the health authority said 52 patients had been transported to four hospitals.

Asked about the discrepancy, Interior Health told CTV News some patients initially taken to hospital in Merritt had later been transferred to Kamloops.

Police described the number of patients transported as "approximately 53," saying they were still "in the process of locating and speaking with them."

As of 9:30 a.m. Sunday, eight patients remained in hospitals in Penticton, Kelowna and Kamloops, Interior Health said. Two were in serious condition and two had non-life-threatening injuries.

"Although the number of patients remaining in hospital is low, this is a life-altering incident for all involved, from the initial physical injuries to the emotional and spiritual impacts of an incident such as this," the health authority said. "Our thoughts are with the families and patients, as well as the many first responders at the scene, who were impacted by this tragic incident."

"Our deep gratitude to the many Interior Health staff and physicians already working or who came into the hospitals to help care for the high number of patients who needed immediate care."

John Stepovy, director of Ebus confirmed to CTV News the crash involved one of his company’s buses and there were 52 passengers plus a male bus driver on board.

Police said the driver has been co-operating with their investigation, which is "non-criminal" in nature.

Early results of the investigation indicate that the bus was travelling west when the crash occurred, RCMP said. Officers arrived to find that the vehicle had rolled onto its passenger side and come to rest in the highway's eastbound lanes. No other vehicles were involved in the crash.

“We’ll do everything we can and we’re here to answer questions and help,” Stepovy said over the phone. “We’ll do whatever we can to get (passengers) back home and reconnected with their loved ones.”

Stepovy said Christmas Day services had been suspended due to “worsening conditions” and the company was cooperating with the RCMP investigation into the crash.

He did not say what caused the crash, but despite the conditions, the highway was open at the time of the crash.

"The road conditions were described as very poor, with ice and snow on the road surface along with rain and hail falling," RCMP said in a statement.

Troy Clifford, president of Ambulance Paramedics of B.C. said a “significant” number of ambulance vehicles responded to the incident.

“Most of them came from Kelowna or the Central Okanagan area, West Kelowna, Peachland, as far as Penticton,” Clifford said. “Then on the other side from Merritt, Logan Lake.”

He said the “disaster ambulance” also attended the scene.

“We have what’s called our mass casualty incident support vehicle, so it’s an ambulance that has multiple stretchers,” he said. “We have them strategically located around the province for unfortunate events like this that happen.” 

Mounties said the accident forced the closure of a stretch of Highway 97C, the Okanagan Connector, in both directions near Merritt. The road reopened Christmas morning.

Interior Health tweeted that an information line had been set up for families to find out which hospital their loved ones had been sent to. 

B.C. Premier David Eby, Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth, Health Minister Adrian Dix and Transportation Minister Rob Fleming released a joint statement saying they were "shocked and saddened" to learn of the accident.

"Our thoughts are with those impacted by the crash, their loved ones, and the first responders and health-care workers giving their all to treat people and keep them safe," the statement said.