No fewer than 10 people have been confirmed dead following a road accident in central Canada’s Manitoba province, local media reported on Friday morning.
Canadian police said on Twitter that officers were responding to a “mass casualty collision” near the town of Carberry, west of Winnipeg, and that first responders and other Royal Canadian Mounted Police units were on the scene.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that the accident involved a semi-trailer truck and a minivan specialized in transporting disabled people.
“My heart breaks hearing the news of the tragic accident near Carberry. My most sincere condolences go out to all those involved,’ tweeted Manitoba’s premier Heather Stefanson.
She said flags at the province’s legislative building have been lowered to half-staff “out of respect for those we have tragically lost.’
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Authorities said the highway was closed in both directions and they were asking motorists to avoid the area.
According to Nirmesh Vadera, who works near the accident site in a roadside hotel restaurant, numerous emergency vehicles and two helicopters were at the scene of the crash, which occurred around midday.
“It was really, really surreal to see the extent of (the accident), because I’ve never seen this kind of fire on any vehicle,” Vadera told reporters on Friday morning, adding there was lots of smoke visible around the site.
According to him, a semi-trailer truck was lying on its side along the roadway, while a smaller vehicle was in flames.
Africa Today News, New York gathered that sometime around 2018, 15 people were killed in an accident in the neighboring western province of Saskatchewan. This was when a truck collided with a bus carrying young ice hockey players that accident generated so much reactions on social media among many Canadians.