The driver of the tractor-trailer that collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus has been arrested and charged, RCMP announced on Friday.

Truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, is facing 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

He was arrested at his home in Calgary on Friday morning and remanded into custody. Sidhu is set to appear in court in Saskatchewan next week, but no date has been set.

Convictions for dangerous operation of a vehicle causing death can result in a sentence of up to 14 years in prison, while a conviction for injuring someone could land someone in prison for 10 years.

RCMP Superintendent Derek Williams explains the difference between a dangerous driving charge and driving without due care and attention charge. 0:36

"Whatever happened, happened for a reason," said crash survivor and former Bronco Ryan Straschnitzki. "His intention wasn't to go out and hurt us that day, but that mistake is obviously going to change his life and changed all our lives."

The Humboldt Broncos released a statement Friday afternoon thanking the RCMP and its investigators for their work.

"Our organization has faith in the justice system and we will be watching closely as this court process plays out," the statement read. "Our primary focus continues to be supporting the survivors, families and others that were directly impacted by the tragedy on April 6."

Sidhu was working for the Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd. when the crash occurred at a rural intersection.

He was driving west on Highway 335 in a semi as a Charlie's Charters bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos was northbound on Highway 35 to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin, Sask.

The team bus was travelling northbound on Highway 35. The semi-trailer was coming from the east on Highway 335. The semi had a stop sign and the bus did not. (CBC )

The bus had the right of way. There is a flashing stop sign for drivers on Highway 335 at Highway 35 between Nipawin and Tisdale. The RCMP said the semi was in the intersection when the vehicles collided.

Sidhu was briefly detained after the April 6 collision then released. He was uninjured.

"I know it has been difficult for many to await the outcome of this police investigation," said Curtis Zablocki, Saskatchewan RCMP commanding officer and assistant commissioner, noting the three-month timeline. "The time it took to do this work — this important work — was necessary."

The Canadian Trucking Alliance said in a statement Friday that once the facts of the case are known, it will work with the provinces and the federal government to improve commercial vehicle safety.

The statement also said the CTA would like to see the results of the investigation into the trucking company that employed Sidhu.

What we know about Sidhu

Sidhu worked for the trucking company for a month prior to the fatal collision, according to owner Sukhmander Singh. Singh said Sidhu trained with him for two weeks and was driving on his own for two more weeks before the crash.

Although Sidhu was not injured in the crash, he did receive trauma counselling in the aftermath.

Sidhu was a bachelor of commerce student at Panjab University in Chandigarh, India, from 2008 until 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile.

He made his way to Calgary on a student visa in 2013 to study for a diploma in business administration at Bow Valley College from 2014 until 2015.

Sidhu's lawyer declined to comment on his client.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Humboldt Broncos were heading to Nipawin for a playoff game when the collision occurred.

Ten Broncos players died. The six other deaths included the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt's FM radio station.

Ten members of the Broncos died in the crash. The six other deaths included the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt's FM radio station. (CBC)

Dangerous driving vs. criminal negligence

Saskatoon-based criminal defence lawyer Brian Pfefferle said dangerous driving is just one of the possible charges that can be laid after serious collisions in Saskatchewan.

Criminal negligence causing death and bodily harm would be among the other possible charges.

Pfefferle said the RCMP's decision to charge Sidhu with dangerous driving suggests the Crown will argue that the driver's behaviour was more than negligence or a momentary lapse of judgment.

In order to secure a conviction, Pfefferle said the Crown will have to prove that the accused was driving in "a manner that constituted a marked departure from the standard of a reasonably prudent driver in the circumstances."

"There's lots of accidents that happen on Saskatchewan roadways where these types of charges aren't laid," said Pfefferle.

"So I'm slightly surprised, I guess, by the fact that they've laid the charge but they obviously know information that the rest of the public doesn't know."

The stop sign

Police have not disclosed the findings of their investigation into how the crash happened.

Brad Muir, an accident investigator with the Collision Reconstruction Group in Ajax, Ont., said he is pleased to see charges laid.

"I think we need to look and dig a little further into the facts of not just going through a stop sign, but what was the speed?" he said.

"We've got obviously a heavily laden commercial vehicle."

Muir believes professional truck drivers need to be held to a high standard.

"I think that's going to go into the decision-making of laying that higher level criminal charge," he said.</s>On Friday the RCMP outlined the 29 charges being laid against the driver of a tractor trailer which struck the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team, leaving 16 dead and 13 injured.</s>The driver of a bus that collided with a lorry in a crash that killed 16 people involved with a Canadian youth hockey team has been arrested on criminal charges.

The driver of a bus that collided with a lorry in a crash that killed 16 people involved with a Canadian youth hockey team has been arrested on criminal charges.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, was detained at his home in Calgary, Alberta, and would appear in a provincial court in Saskatchewan next week.

He faces 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

The crash occurred in Saskatchewan on April 6 as the bus was taking the Humboldt Broncos hockey team to a play-off game.

The driver of the cargo truck that collided with the bus was initially detained, but later released and provided with mental health assistance.

The truck driver was not hurt.</s>The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced Friday that they have arrested the driver of a truck that collided with a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos' junior hockey team in April, which resulted in 16 deaths and injury to 13 others.

Jaskirat Sidhu, 29, was arrested at his home in Calgary at 10:07 a.m. local time Friday, per the RCMP.

Sidhu faces 16 counts of "dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death" and 13 counts of "dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm."

The RCMP said that Sidhu will "make his first appearance in Saskatchewan Provincial Court next week."

The April accident occurred at an intersection in rural Saskatchewan. There were 29 players and people associated with the team on board the bus as the Broncos were making their way to a playoff game.</s>The driver of the tractor-trailer that collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus has been arrested and charged, RCMP announced on Friday.

Truck driver Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, is facing 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

He was arrested in Calgary on Friday morning and remanded into custody. Sidhu is set to appear in court in Saskatchewan next week, but no date has been set.

Sidhu was working for the Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd. when the crash occurred at a rural intersection.

He was heading westbound on Highway 335 in a semi as a Charlie's Charters bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos was travelling northbound on Highway 35 to an SJHL playoff game in Nipawin, Sask.

The bus had the right of way. There is a flashing stop sign for drivers on Highway 335 at Highway 35 between Nipawin and Tisdale. The RCMP said the semi was in the intersection when the bus crashed into it.

Sidhu was briefly detained after the April 6 collision then released. He was uninjured.

Sidhu worked for the trucking company for one month prior to the fatal collision, according to owner Sukhmander Singh. Singh said Sidhu trained with him for two weeks and was driving on his own for two more weeks before the crash.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League's Humboldt Broncos were heading to Nipawin for a playoff game when the collision occurred.

Ten members of the Broncos died. The six other deaths included the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt's FM radio station.</s>The second driver in a fatal collision involving two tractor-trailers on Highway 401 is now in stable condition, according to Chatham-Kent OPP.

The crash happened around 6:50 a.m. Friday on the 401 near Queens Line.

Police said the driver of a westbound tractor-trailer lost control, crossed the centre median and collided with an eastbound truck.

Alaa Issa, 44, of Windsor, the driver of the westbound truck, died Friday after being rushed to hospital.

The driver of the eastbound tractor-trailer was airlifted to a hospital in London where he was listed in critical condition. Police said Monday his condition had improved and he was in stable condition.

The 401 between County Road 42 and Queens Line was closed for about 13 hours after the crash, causing traffic backups for miles and gridlock in Chatham-Kent as thousands of vehicles were diverted off the highway.</s>The driver of the semi truck that collided with the Humbolt Broncos team bus on April 6th been arrested and charged.

RCMP announced today that the driver, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, has been charged with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

He was briefly detained immediately following the crash, but was released shortly after, uninjured.

Sidhu was working for Calgary- based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., and was heading west bound on highway 335 north of Tisdale, Saskatchewan when he collided with the team bus that was travelling northbound on highway 35, on their way to a playoff game in Nipawin, Saskatchewan.

RCMP say the bus had the right of way, and the semi was in the intersection when the bus crashed into it.

The tragic crash killed ten members of the Broncos team, with six other deaths including the the team's head and assistant coaches, the bus driver, two employees of Humbolt's FM radio station, and an athletic therapist.

We'll continue to update as the story progresses.

Questions, comments, or story ideas? Email us at [email protected]</s>On April 6, the world was rocked by a collision between a semi-trailer truck and the bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior ice hockey team -- a crash in snowy, western Canada that left 16 dead and at least another dozen injured.

International tributes, including one at the NHL's offseason awards show, ensued. Everyone from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Donald Trump to Pope Francis and Queen Elizabeth II paid their respects to the victims, their families and the survivors of the accident, which occurred in Saskatchewan on the Broncos' way to a playoff game.

Now, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have made an arrest in the case, charging the driver of the semi-trailer truck with 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle and 13 additional counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily harm.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, was the driver during the collision, according to the Toronto Sun:

He was taken into custody immediately after the collision and released later that evening.The driver was working for Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd., a two-truck company operating out of a home in northeast Calgary. The company said the driver of its oversize tractor-trailer only had a year's experience as a commercial driver and just over two weeks of training from his new employer.

Sidhu will remain in custody until his first court appearance next week.</s>Charges have been filed against the driver of a tractor-trailer that collided with a bus carrying members of a Canadian junior hockey team, killing 16 people, authorities in Canada’s Saskatchewan province said Friday afternoon.

The driver faces 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury, said Curtis Zablocki, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Assistant Commissioner in Saskatchewan.

He was identified as Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, said Rob King, public information officer for the Saskatchewan RCMP.

Sidhu was arrested Friday and will make his first court appearance next week, authorities said. CNN is trying to contact his attorney for comment.

Members of the Humboldt Broncos hockey team were headed to the town of Nipawin for a playoff game the night of April 6 when a tractor-trailer collided with their bus north of Tisdale, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said.

Ten players, aged 16-21, were killed, along with six adults — the bus driver, an athletic therapist, the head coach, an assistant coach and two employees of Humboldt’s FM radio station.

At least 13 other people on the bus were injured. The driver of the truck was not hurt, authorities said.

Investigators didn’t provide details Friday about how the crash happened. The bus was traveling north on Saskatchewan Highway 35 and the truck was heading west on Saskatchewan Highway 335, authorities have said previously.

Humbolt is a town of about 4,800 people. The tragedy was felt across Canada, where hockey is the dominant sport and making long bus rides to tournaments is a rite of passage for young players.</s>A semi-trailer driver is facing charges months after he collided with a bus carrying a Canadian youth hockey team in a crash that left 16 people dead, police said.

The Humboldt Broncos youth hockey team was headed to a playoff game on April 6 when their charter bus collided with a semi-trailer at a rural intersection in Saskatchewan. Sixteen people died and 13 others were injured.

The semi-trailer driver, 29-year-old Jaskirat Sidhu, who was not injured in the crash, is charged with 16 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily harm, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said at a news conference Friday.

Sidhu is in custody and will appear in court next week.

If convicted of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing death, Sidhu faces "upwards of 14 years," authorities said. If convicted of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing harm, he faces "upwards of 10 years," authorities said.

"We've looked at every aspect of the collision including the speed of the vehicles, point of impact, position of the vehicles, impairment, road and weather conditions and witness evidence," authorities said at the news conference. "Every piece of information was carefully examined. Our investigators were throughout in their systematic analysis."

Investigators met with the families Friday morning to tell them about the arrest, authorities said.

"The Humboldt Broncos’ thank the RCMP for their work investigating the crash and determining what charges would be laid against the truck driver," the team said in a statement on Twitter. "Our organization has faith in the justice system and we will be watching closely as this court process plays out."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The driver of the tractor-trailer that collided with the Humboldt Broncos team bus is arrested and is expected to face 29 charges.