Lack of cell service complicated B.C. bus crash response

Northern Health issued an update on Thursday saying 15 of the 20 people assessed and treated in its facilities after the crash have since been discharged.

One person was taken by air ambulance to another facility, while four were admitted to hospital, the health authority said, adding it would not provide any further updates on the status of patients in order to protect their privacy.

Giddens said cell coverage quickly drops off when people leave Mackenzie, located about 180 kilometres north of Prince George, and head south on Highway 39.

Cpl. Jennifer Cooper with North District RCMP has said the crash happened in an area with no cellphone reception and poor satellite coverage.

She said first responders had difficulty with radio communications and information from the area was slow to come out during the initial emergency response.

Ian Tait with Ambulance Paramedics of BC, a union representing about 6,000 ambulance paramedics and dispatchers, said issues with radio and cellphone reception in rural areas are a common complaint among members.

“We struggle with communications like a lot of first responders,” he said of service in rural and remote areas, where some paramedics may still use analog radio systems and experience problems with radio and cellphone towers.

BC Emergency Health Services did not immediately respond to a question Thursday about whether the 12 ambulances, six ground and six air, dispatched to the bus crash near Mackenzie had experienced any communications issues.

An earlier statement from the service said an air ambulance took one person to hospital in serious condition, while six others were transported by ground ambulance to hospital, then airlifted to another facility. Of those six patients, two were in serious condition and four were in serious but stable condition.

Another 13 patients in stable condition were transported by bus to hospital accompanied by advanced-care paramedics, the service said.

The province has said about 38 per cent of B.C.’s highways lack cell service, with limited access to reliable power cited as a key barrier to expanding coverage.

In 2023, the NDP government said it would provide $75 million through a program administered by the Northern Development Initiative Trust to fund projects expanding cellular service to another 550 kilometres of highway by 2027.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2026.

— With files from CKPG

Marissa Birnie, The Canadian Press

by The Canadian Press

Lack of cell service complicated B.C. bus crash response

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