A Thorhild Central School student is dead following an early-morning collision between an Aspen View Public School Division school bus and gravel truck on Opal Road, south west of the Village of Thorhild.
Alberta Health Services north zone communication director Kerry Williamson said that on March 7 at approximately 8 a.m., emergency medical services and RCMP responded to a collision near Range Road 223 (Opal Road) and Township Road 594 in Thorhild County.
“EMS pronounced one teenage female deceased at the scene,” said Williamson.
The remaining 13 students were assisted at the crash site, but did not require transportation to hospital and were taken to school following the incident. The drivers of both vehicles were not injured.
An RCMP officer on scene said their preliminary investigation shows the bus was turning off Township Road 594, west of the village, and heading south on Opal Road. Redwater RCMP, along with an RCMP collision analyst, continue to investigate and traffic around the site continued to be re-routed in the afternoon. Heavy fog was reported in the area at the time of the crash, although RCMP say all contributing factors are being considered in their investigation.
“The semi truck, which was hauling gravel at the time made impact and rear-ended the school bus,” said Cpl. Mark Joy of the Redwater RCMP, noting it’s too soon to say if any charges are being contemplated.
“Unfortunately, this morning, on scene, a student was deceased. It’s a very tragic incident because we have such a small community here. Our traffic analysts responded and are currently still investigating. All the avenues of the investigation are being explored at this point, but preliminary indications are we had heavy fog here this morning which would be a contributing factor to what happened.”
In an Aspen View press release, Supt. Mark Francis says the division is “deeply saddened” by the incident.
“We grieve this immeasurable loss with the student’s family, loved ones and the entire Thorhild Central School community,” he said. “We pledge our ongoing support to all those affected by today’s tragedy.”
Aspen View communications co-ordinator Ross Hunter said their initial response has been to dispatch additional counselling supports to Thorhild Central School to assist students and staff. RCMP report Redwater Victim Services have also attended the school and are offering assistance. Police will not be releasing the name of the girl.
“We’re all small, tight-knit communities that work and interact with each other, (and) we understand that there’s students in other schools in our division too (that) will be affected by this,” he said. “So, we’re putting in place all the counselling supports and other mental health interventions that are required to help our school communities deal with this incredibly unfortunate tragedy.”
“It’s a very small close-knit community and a very small school so the news of it quickly got through, of course with social media and everything that is available to students today. It has a profound impact on the whole community,” added Cpl. Joy.
