Saskatchewan RCMP say they are still investigating after a school bus was involved in a single-vehicle collision, sending 26 children and the bus driver to hospital.
The incident happened around 3:55 p.m. local time on Oct. 28 at the intersection of Township Road 424 and Range Road 2160 near the Town of Tisdale, according to an RCMP news release.
There were 27 children aged 14 to 17 years on the bus at the time, RCMP said.
Twenty-one of the children have non-life threatening injuries, and the other six have injuries the RCMP have described as “serious.” The bus driver was also seriously injured, police said.
The majority of the injured children were taken to hospital by EMS and parents, the release said.
One child was airlifted to a hospital in Saskatoon via Stars Air Ambulance.
All of those on board the bus were from the local area.
RCMP said they were not able to share any other information about the patients as it was considered personal health information.
Teachers, parents, and community members from nearby Kinistin Saulteaux Nation offered support at the scene, the release said.
RCMP thanked first responders who helped at the scene, including Melfort RCMP and EMS from surrounding municipalities including Melfort, Tisdale, and Naicam.
The North East School Division (NESD) thanked all those who were on the scene to help.
“On behalf of all of us at NESD we are sending our healing thoughts and wishes for a quick recovery to those involved.”
The road was closed for several hours as police investigated, according to the release.
Tisdale and Saskatchewan RCMP are continuing to investigate, police said.
While the collision is under investigation, the police said they could not release any further details about the cause of the crash.
The collision happened just 20 minutes south of the 2018 Humbolt Broncos bus crash that killed 16 and injured 13.
In that incident, the bus was hit by a truck that failed to stop at a stop sign.
The driver of the truck, Jaskirat Singh Sidhu, was charged with dangerous driving offenses. He pleaded guilty, saying he didn’t want to cause more grief for the victim families, and was given eight years in jail. He was granted parole in 2023, and is challenging a deportation order.
