Image Credit: Drive BC

By James Peters, CFJC Today with files from CKPG Today

Major colision

BREAKING: School bus crashes off Highway 97 near Lac La Hache; no word on injuries

Jun 21, 2024 | 2:28 PM

LAC LA HACHE, B.C. —Update: According to Global News all students and staff were accounted for and being checked by paramedics following Friday’s school bus crash.

“Early reports from medical personnel is that there are a few injuries but we don’t have all the details on that,” said School District 27 Superintendent Chris van der Mark, who added the bus was carrying 100 Mile Elementary and Horse Lake Elementary students back from a field trip to Gavin Lake when it went off the road.

He said the district was contacting parents directly to arrange pickup of their children, and asked them not to drive to the crash site.

In an email to CKPG News, BC Emergency Health Services confirmed they responded not only to the bus crash, but to a second incident in which a person was struck by a vehicle at the same location. RCMP say despite life saving efforts, the person did not survive.

Multiple resources have been dispatched. They include 11 ambulances and response units with primary care and advanced care paramedics, seven air ambulances with critical care paramedics, and multiple supervisors and area managers.

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Earlier: We are receiving word of a major crash involving a school bus in the Cariboo.

According to Cpl. Melissa Jongema of BC Highway Patrol, the incident took place early Friday afternoon (June 21) along Highway 97 near Butler Road in Lac La Hache.

A photo from the scene appears to show a bus down an embankment from the roadway.

There is no word on the number or severity of injuries.

The highway is closed in both directions while emergency responders attend the scene. RCMP are asking motorists to avoid the area.

Image Credit: Facebook / Yvette Lapointe Mathews