MONTREAL - A man aged 67 and a woman aged 70 were killed while another 49 passengers were brought to hospital when a charter bus they were traveling in skidded off the road near Plessisville Saturday morning.
The victims were Denise Jalbert-Doyon and Maurice Turcotte.
Fifty-seven mostly-elderly passengers were riding the charter bus to the United States when it in drove into a ditch on Highway 165 between Plessisville and Saint-Ferdinand at around 8 a.m.
The bus slid off the road, hit a pole and onto its side.
The driver, 57, was injured in the accident and blamed slippery road conditions. The accident occurred during windy conditions on roads dampened by snow and rain.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash. The injured were brought to hospitals in Thetford Mines and Victoriaville.
Provincial police have set-up an emergency hotline to answer questions of anybody who worries that they have a friend or family among the dead or injured. The number to call is: 819-357-2030.
The bus was headed on a four-hour drive to a casino in Akwesasne N.Y., just south of Cornwall.
Administrators at Hôtel-Dieu d'Arthabaska in Victoriaville confirmed that the two people died in the early afternoon as a result of injuries sustained in bus crash.
All 49 people transported to hospital were senior citizens from the Beauce and Thetford Mines regions. Their names were not made public.
The bus was from the fleet of Beauce-based Autocars La Chaudière whose owner Jean-Francois Breton was on site Saturday. "We're definitely in shock," he told CTV Montreal.
Breton said that the bus was in good condition and was recently inspected. He said it's the only fatal accident in the company's history.
Provincial police representative Claude Denis told reporters Saturday that, "We are investigating the scene to try to establish the exact cause of the crash."
Officials stated in an afternoon press conference that the situation required rarely-employed emergency planning measures. They congratulated the various emergency teams for their coordinated efforts in dealing with the emergency.
A medical official reported that many passengers suffered fractures in the crash, mostly to the legs, back and pelvis.
See more photos of the accident by clicking here.
With a file from The Canadian Press
