Two young children were killed and at least six others were injured after a city bus crashed into a daycare north of Montreal Wednesday morning in what witnesses said appeared to be a deliberate act.
The bus driver, a 51-year-old employee of the Societe de transport de Laval, has been arrested and charged with homicide and dangerous driving.
Urgences-Santé emergency services have confirmed there were eight transports to hospitals with children and adults with serious injuries, some in critical condition. Twelve people were evaluated by paramedics.
Six children who were taken to hospital have since been declared out of danger.
It happened at around 8:30 a.m. at Garderie Éducative located on Terrasse Dufferin, near Sénécal Street. Laval police have set up a large perimeter and many parents are on the scene.
Nine ambulances were deployed to transport the victims to Montreal and Laval area hospitals.
“He was yelling, he didn’t stop yelling,” Benchaabane said.
“The first thing he did was take off all his clothes after opening the bus door …. He was just yelling, there were no words coming out of his mouth.”
Benchaabane said he believes the driver deliberately drove into the daycare, which is located at the end of a driveway off a cul-de-sac. There is a bus stop on the cul-de-sac, but the driver would have had to veer off the road and head down the long driveway to hit the building.
He said he and the others had to strike the driver to get him under control, before police cuffed the man. The driver, he said, “was in a different world.”
Benchaabane said he was able to help pull one child from the daycare, adding that he and the others tried to save a second child before firefighters ordered them to leave because pieces of the roof were at risk of falling.
“It was a nightmare, I can’t believe it,” he said of what he witnessed.
“It was horrible.”
Laval Mayor Stephane Boyer said the driver has worked for the transit agency for about 10 years and has no incidents of note on his file.
“There is a theory that it was an intentional act, but that remains to be confirmed by the investigation,” Boyer said.
In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the crash.
“Our thoughts are with families in Laval who are living incredibly difficult moments …we hope that everyone will be OK,” he said.
“We are following the situation closely.”
Earlier Wednesday, Quebec Premier Francois Legault said his thoughts are with the children and their families, as well as with the employees of the daycare in Laval.
“We are going to give the parents all the help we can, and as a father, I am shaken.”
