Fifteen dead after bus carrying Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team crashes with lorry in western Canada

Fifteen people have been killed after a bus carrying a junior ice hockey team was hit by a lorry in western Canada, police said.

Another 14 were taken to hospital with a range of injuries, with three in a critical condition, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed.

A total of 28 people were on the bus, which was carrying the Humboldt Broncos team which plays in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

The team were travelling to the town of Nipawin for a play-off game, when the vehicle collided with a transporter lorry.

“There have been multiple fatalities – our whole community is in shock,” said the Humboldt Broncos’ junior team president Kevin Garinger.

He added that parents from across western Canada are rushing to the scene as they struggle to cope with the tragedy.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau tweeted his condolences to the families.

“I cannot imagine what these parents are going through, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, in the Humboldt community and beyond,” he wrote.

Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks hockey team, called it “a horrible accident”, adding: ”It’s very, very bad.”

Mr Opp said the truck hit the side of the players’ bus, adding that the coaching staff and players from the Hawks are waiting to help.

The driver of the lorry was not injured in the crash, RCMP Saskatchewan assistant commissioner Curtis Zablocki told a media conference. He said the driver was initially detained, but later released.

“They are sitting in the church just waiting to hear any good news,” he said. “There’s uncles and moms and dads waiting to hear whether their sons and nephews are OK.”

Pastor Jordan Gadsby at the Apostolic Church in Nipawin said more than a hundred people gathered at the church. “Some of them are waiting to hear if their kids are alive.”

Mr Garinger, who has one of the players living in his home, said they still don’t know his fate.

“We don’t know who has passed and we don’t expect to know right away,” he said. “We know that the coroner and their office need to do their work and let families know.”

Kevin Henry, a coach who runs a hockey school in Prince Albert, said people are in shock. “It is sort of every parent’s worst nightmare.”

“This is I would think one of the darkest days in the history of Saskatchewan, especially because hockey is so ingrained in how we grow up here,” Henry said.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior ‘A’ hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It is open to North American-born players between the ages of 16 and 20.

RCMP said the collision occurred late Friday afternoon.

Additional reporting by AP