The Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced on Friday that the driver of the tractor-trailer that collided with the Humboldt Broncos’ bus, killing 16 players and staff and injuring 13 others, has been arrested. Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, 29, has been charged with 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 uninjured and detained after the crash before being released. The team was on its way to a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game in Nipawin, Sask. when the April 6 crash occurred. From the CBC: 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 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. According to police, Sidhu will remain in custody before appearing in Saskatchewan provincial court sometime next week. Per the CBC, “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.” A GoFundMe fundraising campaign started by a Humboldt resident ended in early April after raising over $15 million to help the families of victims and survivors. Donations have continued, however, and the number is now over $19 million, according to Broncos president Kevin Garinger. In May, it was announced that the Broncos would ice a team next season in the SJHL. The first step in the rebuilding process was to hold a training camp featuring 80 invited players. Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Mike Babcock and Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar were on hand to assist. As the hockey world continued to send its support, the Broncos hired Nathan Oystrick as new head coach, replacing the late Darcy Haugan, who was named winner of the inaugural Willie O’Ree Community Hero Award at last month’s NHL Awards show. Washington Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson, a Saskatoon native, said he will spend his day with the Stanley Cup in Humboldt. ———— Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.<doc-sep>OTTAWA—Canadian police on Friday arrested and charged the truck driver whose vehicle was involved in a deadly crash with a bus carrying members of a Saskatchewan junior hockey team in April. The collision left 16 people dead, including 10 players from the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, the team’s coach and a volunteer statistician. Another 13 people were injured. The crash sent shock waves through the small town of Humboldt, a farming and potash-mining community located east of Saskatoon, and through the North American hockey community. The Broncos were on their way to a playoff game in Nipawin, Saskatchewan, on April 6 when their bus collided with a truck at a rural intersection. Police said on Friday that the bus was driving northbound and the semi-truck was driving westbound, but said they couldn’t provide further details about what caused the two vehicles to collide because the evidence will now go before a court. Jaskirat Sidhu, a 29-year-old man from Calgary, was charged on Friday with dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury, police said. At the time of the crash, police said the truck driver hadn’t been injured and was released after initial questioning. Police hadn’t previously identified the truck driver. Many of the Humboldt Broncos players were recruited from across Western Canada and were hosted in Humboldt by local families. The team had been among the top-performing in the province of Saskatchewan before the crash. Canadian junior hockey teams typically travel to their games by bus, and the Humboldt Broncos weren’t the first team to be involved in a deadly collision. In 1986, four junior hockey players from the Saskatchewan town of Swift Current, about 240 miles south of Humboldt, were killed in a bus crash.<doc-sep>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.<doc-sep>
On April 6, a bus carrying Sasketchewan Junior Hockey League team, the Humboldt Broncos, was involved in a fatal collision which resulted in the deaths of 16 people, and left 13 others injured. Across the world, the hockey community came together to mourn the tragic loss of life. Tributes ranged from a moment of silence, to leaving sticks out for the boys, to donating a custom goalie mask. The Broncos coach, Darcy Haugan, also posthumously received the inaugural Willie O’Ree award at the NHL Awards in June. Friday, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed that they had arrested and pressed 29 charges against the driver of the semi-truck, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, which include 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death, and 13 counts of dangerous operation of motor vehicle causing bodily injury. He is set to appear in court in Saskatchewan next week. BREAKING: Driver of semi-truck that collided with Humboldt Broncos bus 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. — CBC News Alerts (@CBCAlerts) July 6, 2018 Sidhu was working for Calgary-based Adesh Deol Trucking Ltd. when the crash occurred. The semi-truck was, according to RCMP, heading westbound on Highway 335, while the Humboldt Broncos’ bus was travelling northbound to playoff game in Nipawin. The Broncos bus had right of way. Sidhu, allegedly, failed to wait at a stop sign and was in the intersection when the bus and semi-truck collided. Sidhu, who was uninjured in the crash, was briefly detained after the collision and later released. Capitals forward Chandler Stephenson will bring the Stanley Cup to Humboldt on August 24, when he has his day with the NHL’s championship trophy. Headline photo: @hockeynight