School bus and pickup truck collide near Sylvan Lake

There were eight kids on the bus between the ages of five and 11, none of them were injured. Their parents were notified and the children were taken to their school.

The woman driving the bus is shaken by the incident but is okay, Shepherd says.

“Obviously, with the Humboldt tragedy everybody is on edge more than they would be. But she did a good job and is in good shape. She’s a little shook up, but she’s going to be ok.”

The man driving the pickup had to be extricated from the vehicle following the crash and was taken to Red Deer Regional Hospital with undetermined injuries.

Shepherd said it’s too early to say whether the school bus or the truck crossed the centre line of the highway leading up to the collision. He says it appears the pickup truck was stolen.

Investigators are looking into the cause of the crash. Though a fog advisory was in effect for the Sylvan Lake area Wednesday morning, Shepherd doesn’t believe poor visibility played a role.

“I was the second officer on scene and the visibility was good. So there was no problem with that.”

Highway 11A remains closed in both directions between Highway 20 and Range Road 10.

Shepherd says the highway is expected to be closed until around noon.

Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools spokesperson Haleigh Packer says they have resources available to help students affected by the crash.

“Students are always encouraged to talk to their counsellors that we have in each of our schools when situations like this arise,” Packer says. “We have supports in place with school counsellors as well as family school enhancement counsellors to talk about these situations. And we’ve put out letters asking parents to observe their students over the next few days to ensure that, if they need to, see a school counsellor.”

The bus was serving the district’s S-47 route, according to Packer.

by Troy Gillard (Twitter: @Troy_Gillard)

School bus and pickup truck collide near Sylvan Lake

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