A daycare centre in Laval, Quebec, just outside of Montreal, was hit by a city bus driven by a 51-year-old man who is now facing murder charges.
The New York Times said that the crash on Wednesday morning killed two children and hurt six more. The driver, whose name has not been made public, worked for Société de transport de Laval (STL), the local bus company. CNN says that he is also charged with driving carelessly.
Laval Police spokesperson Erika Landry said, according to CNN –
“He will be meeting the investigators but as of now we do not know the motive of the crime.”
“We have six kids that have been transported into different hospitals in Montreal and Laval, but unfortunately we have two other kids that died as a result of the accident.”
CTV News cited Dr. Marc Girard, a spokesman for Montreal’s Ste-Justine Children’s Hospital, as saying that he is treating four children, aged three to five.
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Two boys and two girls were taken to the hospital with “various types of trauma,” he said, as CTV News reported.
Girard said –
“It is very difficult to see how situation will evolve in young children but we want to make sure that they go back to their normal lives.”
CTV News said that two other hurt children were taken to a hospital in Laval. Hamdi Ben Chaabane, who lives nearby, said that he and other people tried to stop the driver after the crash when he started screaming and taking his clothes off.
He said, according to the Montreal Gazette –
“We had to hit him to subdue him, and we got him on the ground, and then the police put the handcuffs on him.”
The children, who were between 4 and 5 years old, were taken to Ste. Justine. Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau showed his sadness over the tragedy.
He said, according to The Times –
“All Canadians are grieving with them and will do whatever we can to support them in their horrific pain over the coming days and months and years.”
