Alberta RCMP say multiple people have been injured after a coach carrying a minor hockey team crashed on Highway 2, just south of Athabasca.
Mounties responded to the collision in the early hours of Friday, Dec. 12, roughly 140 km north of Edmonton.
Reports indicate that the bus was carrying a local Junior A hockey team — the Athabasca Rivermen — made up of 15 to 19-year-olds, south on the QEII when it lost control and entered a ditch.
The Rivermen were on their way to southern Alberta to play the Crowsnest Crush Friday evening. That game has since been cancelled.
“Our hearts are heavy this morning as we extended all of our prayers, thoughts and best wishes to the Athabasca Rivermen Junior A Hockey Club and their families. This morning the team was involved in a bus accident with some serious injuries,” said the Crush on social media.
“As a hockey community, we are all thinking of you and encourage all our Crush fans from near and far to light up the Pass in support and have those sticks out.”
The National Junior Hockey League is an independent organization not affiliated with Hockey Canada.
Aftermath of a collision involving a bus carrying a minor hockey team south of Athabasca. (Photo Courtesy: Alberta RCMP)
Several people on the bus sustained injuries, including two minors who were taken to a hospital in Edmonton with non-life-threatening injuries. Others reported minor injuries or soreness and were treated at the scene.
RCMP say poor road conditions are believed to have been a factor in the collision, noting that at the time, highways in the area were partially covered by snow and ice, with temperatures being around -37 Celsius.