A northbound white shuttle bus left Highway 39 and came to rest in a ditch about four kilometres south of Mackenzie, British Columbia, on Wednesday morning, injuring about 20 people.
BC Highway Patrol said police were called at 9:10 a.m. to the single-vehicle collision. Officers found the bus with about 20 passengers and the driver with injuries ranging from minor to serious. No arrests have been made, and police said the cause of the crash is still uncertain.
BC Emergency Health Services dispatched six ambulances, six air ambulances, and several supervisors and managers to the scene. Of the injured, 15 have since been treated and discharged, and five remain in hospital in serious or serious but stable condition.
The Mackenzie and District Hospital and the University Hospital of Northern B.C. in Prince George were placed on Code Orange during the response. Northern Health said the Code Orange at Mackenzie ended at 3:30 p.m. and at the Prince George hospital at 5:45 p.m. Highway 39 remained closed while crews were on scene and reopened at about 5:00 p.m.
The bus was chartered by a contractor of IREN, an AI data centre company with a site in Mackenzie, according to IREN. In a statement sent to Vista Radio, an IREN spokesperson said the company was in close contact with the contractor, emergency responders and the RCMP as they work to establish what happened, and that its immediate concern was for everyone on board and their families.
BC Highway Patrol asks anyone who saw the bus in the minutes before the collision, or who has dash cam footage, to call BC Highway Patrol in Prince George at 250-649-4004 and quote file 2026-956. Sergeant Michael McLaughlin said the scene was chaotic and that police will need time to sort out many of the details.