Three dead, others injured in fiery crash of Calgary transit buses

CALGARY — Three people died Thursday when a transit bus set off a chain-reaction crash on a busy Calgary road and rear-ended another bus to ignite an explosion

Officials said the three killed were on one of the buses, and more than a dozen others were injured in the crash involving eight vehicles.

Staff Sgt. Andy Woodward said one officer was also hurt and taken to hospital after she ran toward a bus just as the fire erupted.

He said investigators were trying to figure out how it all happened.

The crash happened shortly after 1 p.m., when one bus slammed into a car and hit other vehicles in the city's northeast, near the airport.

Woodward said the bus then bounced from that crash through the intersection and hit the second bus parked at a bus stop, setting off the fireball.

One of the buses was powered by liquid natural gas.

The impact saw flames quickly envelop the entire roof of one bus, lifting aloft thick clouds of ashy-black smoke. The force of that crash also propelled the second bus into three more vehicles.

The front end of the other bus was left crumpled and smashed, its steering wheel hanging out.

Crews from a nearby firehall quickly extinguished blazes on both buses. The area was scattered with bits of metal and debris.

Emergency Medical Services spokesperson Adam Loria said 19 people were injured in all. Ten were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he's heartbroken over the deaths and injuries.

“There will be a full investigation into what happened,” Farkas said on social media.

— The Canadian Press