OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.</s>Three people are dead and 23 are injured after a bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour in Ottawa, Canada.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she has been detained.

He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

Mayor Jim Watson said two of those who died were on the bus and the other was in the shelter.

Ottawa Hospital's trauma center said it had received nine patients 'in critical condition' from the crash.

The accident happened at the Westboro station in a neighborhood west of downtown Ottawa.

Photos posted on Twitter shows extensive damage to the front of the bus, with the roof of a shelter pushed well into the bus's second deck.

The bus has a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, an Ottawa bus collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people.</s>What we know about the crash:

* A westbound double-decker bus travelling on the Transitway hit Westboro Station around 3:50 p.m. on Friday

 * Three people are dead and 23 were injured

 * Two people died while on the bus, while the other person died standing on the platform

 * One witness said the bus hit a patch of ice before crashing into the side of the station

 * The police chief said it was Route 269. He said the driver of the bus was arrested and taken in for questioning. “Something led us” to arrest her, said the chief.

 * The Transitway has been closed from Scott Street and the Transitway, between Westboro and Tunney’s Pasture stations

 * Authorities are asking people to stay away from the area

 * Churchill Seniors Centre at 345 Richmond Rd. is open for those seeking information about family members involved in the crash

 * The Ottawa Hospital said it received a total of 12 patients to its Civic campus and six to its General campus

It should have been a normal commute home at the end of a long work week for the passengers on OC Transpo’s “Connexion” Route 269, bound for Kanata’s Bridlewood neighbourhood from downtown.

But as the packed, double-decker bus roared through Westboro Station at 3:50 p.m., something went suddenly, horrifyingly wrong. The driver lost control, sending the bus hurtling over the curb and into the shelter, impaling itself on the shelter’s overhanging steel and glass roof, which sliced six or seven rows deep into the bus’s upper right side.

Two people on the bus and one person standing on the platform were killed. Another 23 were injured, nine of whom were in hospital Friday night with critical, life-threatening injuries.

The female bus driver was arrested at the scene.

“I remember hearing the bus driver saying, ‘Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God’,” one passenger said as she walked away from the station down Scott Street, an hour after the crash.

“The bus was full, every seat was taken, plus there were people standing in the middle row, so they were flying back,” said the woman, a member of the military who would not give her name.

“There was glass everywhere. One guy I was helping, his foot was facing the other way and he had blood all over his face. He was top left, second from the front.

“One person on the road was unconscious, the other one was conscious but pretty beat up. It was awful.”

Police, paramedics and firefighters swarmed the scene at Westboro Station, as they tried to free the injured, many of them trapped on the bus’s upper deck. Police closed Scott Street near the station and buses re-routed off the Transitway.

Firefighters used ladders to reach the bus’s upper deck, as first-responders worked in bone-chilling temperatures to comfort and treat the injured. Some of the badly hurt were removed on stretchers through the bus’s smashed upper front window. Others were carried or limped their way to a fleet of waiting ambulances.

“It is with deep sadness that I report that there were three confirmed casualties,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said at an evening press briefing at city hall.

“Speaking on behalf of my colleagues on city council, our hearts and condolences go out to all those injured, those families that have lost loved ones and their families. Our thoughts are also with the others on that bus, at that station, those directly involved, and those who witnessed the collision.”
• Ottawa bus crash: Who to call if you need help
• ‘I’m just terrified, it’s absolutely heartbreaking’: Quotes from the tragic Westboro bus crash

The Ottawa Hospital declared an emergency Code Orange about a half hour after the crash. It received 12 patients at its trauma centre at the Civic campus and six at the General campus. A doctor at the Civic campus walked into the emergency room and addressed the handful of people waiting with conditions unrelated to the bus crash. He thanked them for their patience, and instructed anyone who felt they were getting worse to talk to the triage desk.

“We’re having a mass casualty event,” he explained. “There’s some really critical patients.”

The bus driver was taken to police headquarters Friday night to be questioned by police.

“As to the driver, I can advise you without getting into details, there was a requirement for us to arrest her at the scene and she has been transported to our headquarters for interviewing,” Ottawa police Chief Charles Bordeleau told reporters.

In response to a follow-up question, he said: “I can tell you that something led us to arrest the individual and take them to the station.”

Six police collision investigators pored over the crash scene trying to determine what went wrong. Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation and Transport Canada are also involved in the investigation, Bordeleau said.

”Responding to any type of incident like this is tragic and it’s very difficult,” Bordeleau said. “It’s chaotic scene.”

Route 269 does not stop at Westboro Station, running straight through from Tunney’s Pasture, its previous stop, to Bayshore. It takes about an hour to do the full run, and many passengers come from the National Defence Headquarters at the Mackenzie King Bridge, where it starts its run.

It is the second deadly incident for OC Transpo since 2013 when a bus was struck by a Via passenger train at a level crossing near Fallowfield Road. Six people died, including the bus driver. Both the Westboro and Fallowfield buses involved OC Transpo’s double-decker Alexander Dennis E500 buses. The city’s transportation manager, John Manconi, said a Transportation Safety Board investigation after the 2013 crash found no faults with the vehicle.

“You recall the TSB report was very crystal clear that there was no issue with the double-decker bus from a maintenance perspective, from OC Transpo’s requirements to maintain them, we do pass all MTO inspections and so forth,” Manconi told reporters.

The city set up a post at the Churchill Seniors Centre to act as a reception centre for those both seeking information about family members they were unable to reach reach and a warming centre for first responders who had been at the scene.

MORE: What happened at Westboro Station? Investigation expected to be lengthy

Counsellors from the Ottawa police’s victims crisis unit were available to assist families and witnesses of the crash. Workers from the Red Cross and the Salvation Army were also stationed inside.

Around 8 p.m, only about a dozen people entered the reception centre, many anxious about loved ones who they had not been able to contact. Very soon after the centre opened, a couple was reunited with their teenaged daughter.

Kanata resident Mary Hawkeye went to the centre at about 7 p.m. after she was unable to contact her 26-year-old son, who works in a downtown restaurant.

“He left a couple of hours ago,” she said before going in. “He’s not answering his cellphone. It goes directly to voicemail. So we’re not really sure,” she said.

Hawkeye left the centre a few minutes later after her son called from home.

“We’re so relieved,” she said. “But we’re praying for anyone who’s waiting. We’re praying for those folks who haven’t heard anything yet.”

People who are worried about loved ones who might have been on the bus can call the Canadian Red Cross at 1-855-797-8875 for more information.

ALSO IN THE NEWS</s>OTTAWA — Three people were killed and 23 injured when a double-decker city bus struck a transit shelter in Ottawa on Friday afternoon, badly damaging the vehicle’s upper deck where several people were trapped inside.

The driver of the bus was arrested at the scene, Chief Charles Bordeleau of the Ottawa police told an evening news conference at city hall. He wouldn’t say why she was detained rather than submitting to questions voluntarily.

“Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station,” Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in the capital. The bus was headed to Kanata, a more distant Ottawa suburb.

Mayor Jim Watson said two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city’s busway.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle’s second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

During the emergency response, a dozen ambulances lined one side of the transit route, waiting to take injured people away.

One woman who could walk was helped off a bus by two first responders, one supporting each of her arms. Another was wheeled on a gurney in obvious distress, wailing loudly enough to be heard on an overpass above.

Neither Bordeleau nor Watson would speculate on why the bus had left the road. Despite mid-afternoon temperatures of about minus-15, it hadn’t snowed in Ottawa Friday and the busway is the top priority for the city’s snowplows, salters and sanders.

“We’re taking every necessary step to establish all of the facts and will co-operate fully with any investigation,” said John Manconi, the general manager of Ottawa’s transit service, OC Transpo.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said in the news conference later.

“Most of the serious injuries were on the upper-right side of the bus,” Bordeleau said. “I want to express my sorrow and condolences of the Ottawa police service and other emergency services.”

He said the upper deck of the bus was badly damaged in the crash, trapping several people inside for some time.

The investigation will take a long time and likely would mean the closure of the busway and nearby roads for at least many hours, Bordeleau said.

Gabe Rivett-Carnac arrived at Westboro station on a double-decker bus himself about an hour before the crash. He was in his apartment across the street from the station when he started hearing sirens just after 4 p.m.

He went outside and came across a “chaotic” scene, with at least 30 emergency vehicles, including seven or eight fire trucks, and lots of police and bystanders, he said.

“You could see the entire front portion of the bus had been demolished or cut away, and firefighters were on ladders cutting out the top floor windows,” he said. “I saw one person being lowered from the top floor in a seated position.”

He said he could tell there would be deaths given the devastation at the scene.

“Based on the way it looked, if there was anybody at the front of the bus at the top â¦ I can’t see how they would’ve been able to get away from that,” he said.

His partner usually gets off the bus at that station when coming home from work but she hadn’t gone in on Friday, he said, and they were checking in with family and friends who live in the area to see if they’re OK.

“You get a knot in the pit of your stomach. I felt like vomiting a couple of times. It’s not a comfortable thing to witness and I can’t imagine experiencing it.”

“To the people of Ottawa, know that the rest of Ontario shares in your sorrow tonight. We grieve with you, and we stand with you,” Ford wrote in a longer statement.

“Such devastating news. My thoughts and condolences are with the victims, their families and all those affected by this tragedy,” wrote Environment Minister Catherine McKenna, who represents the area in Parliament.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle. In that case, an investigation found that the cause was a combination of excessive speed, a difficult curve before the tracks and driver distraction from video monitors showing the upper deck.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she has been detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

Mayor Jim Watson said two of those who died were on the bus and the other was in the shelter.

Ottawa Hospital's trauma center said it had received nine patients "in critical condition" from the crash.

The accident happened at the Westboro station in a neighborhood west of downtown Ottawa.

Photos posted on Twitter shows extensive damage to the front of the bus, with the roof of a shelter pushed well into the bus's second deck.

The bus has a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, an Ottawa bus collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people.</s>OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — A double-deck city bus smashed into a transit shelter during Friday's rush hour, and Ottawa authorities said three people were killed and 23 injured.

Police Chief Charles Bordeleau said the bus driver was arrested after the crash, but he declined to provide details on why she was detained. He said police were still investigating the cause of the crash.

"Something led us to having to arrest the individual and take them to the station," Bordeleau said.

The crash took place west of downtown at 3:50 p.m., just as dusk was beginning to settle on the coldest day of the winter so far in Canada's capital

Two of the dead were riding the bus and one was on the platform at Westboro station, a major stop on the city's busway, Mayor Jim Watson said.

The vehicle apparently jumped the curb as it approached the station and plowed along the platform, where the roof of a shelter carved deep into the vehicle's second deck. The first seats on the upper level of the bus were crushed together.

Paramedics said a total of 25 people were taken to the hospital, suggesting one of the victims could not be revived at the scene and the other two died after arriving. Of those transported, 14 were in critical condition and 11 were in serious condition, paramedic chief Myles Cassidy said at a news conference.

"I want to send my deepest condolences to the families of victims and everyone affected by today's tragic bus crash," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. "Thank you to the first responders who rushed to help — we're monitoring the situation closely."

The bus had a capacity of 90 people, both sitting and standing.

The crash snarled afternoon traffic as emergency crews descended on the scene.

In 2013, another Ottawa double-decker city bus broke through a warning gate and collided with a Via Rail train in suburban Barrhaven, killing six people as the train sheared off the front of the vehicle.
An Ottawa, Canada municipal transit bus crashes into a station, killing three people and injuring 23 others.