Truck driver charged in Humboldt Broncos bus crash

REGINA – The driver of a transport truck that collided with a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team exactly three months ago has been charged.

RCMP say the 29-year-old driver was arrested this morning at his Calgary home.

Jaskirat Singh Sidhu faces 16 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and 13 counts of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

He is to appear in provincial court in Saskatchewan next week.

“[These] are serious criminal code charges,” says Superintendent Derek Williams. “In order to lay these charges, we required evidence a motor vehicle was being operated in a manner that is dangerous to the public.”

“In addition to the collision re-enactment we did in April, we have conducted over 60 interviews, taken over 6,000 photographs, analyzed all of the documentation available to us — including the driver log book. We’ve also used 3D technology to capture evidence through unmanned aerial vehicles,” says Williams.

He notes there isn’t much he can share about the evidence. “But I can tell you the following: We’ve looked at every aspect of the collision, including the speed of the vehicles, point of impact, position of the vehicles, impairment, road and weather conditions, and witness evidence. Every piece of information was carefully examined.”

“We know that the bus was driving northbound on the highway and the semi truck was westbound. They did meet in the intersection and a collision occurred,” says Williams.

The Broncos were on their way to a playoff game when the truck and the bus crashed at a rural Saskatchewan intersection on April 6. Sixteen people, including 10 players, died as a result of the crash, and 13 players were injured.

Williams says he knows there has been a lot of public interest in this case and people have been anxious to find out if any charges would be laid. “It takes time to gather all those evidence and facts. In addition, we have to collect expert reports. That process took some time.”

Mounties say investigators have already met with the families of the victims to tell them about the charges. They add over the past three months, there were over 100 officers involved in the investigation.

The truck driver was not hurt.

Measure of closure

There’s a measure of closure for the families affected by the crash in April.

Tom Straschnitzki, whose son Ryan was paralyzed from the chest down in the crash, was relieved charges were laid.

“Well we are happy that it’s finally come to, charges are being laid. So yeah, we are very happy about that, don’t want that to be ignored at all.”

He’s now hoping to get some answers.

“It should put a little closure to the first step. And now a second step is, alright let’s see what the courts do, and see what exactly happened. Because I think that’s what people want to know, is what exactly happened, how it did happen, and why it happened.”

Straschnitzki says the family has been focused on Ryan’s recovery the past three months and were content to let the Saskatchewan RCMP do their jobs.

In the weeks after the crash, a GoFundMe page dedicated to the Broncos raised more than $15-million — believed to be a record amount for Canada.

Nearly 100,000 Canadians also signed up to become organ donors.

Still questions to be answered: trucking association

Since April 6th, the trucking industry has been under a microscope as many ask, “How could this happen?”

The President of the BC Trucking Association –Dave Earle– says charges approved today don’t mean that question has been answered yet.

“One of the things that I turned to immediately was how this information would be received and felt by the survivors and the families of those. So it is one step towards understanding what happened on that day more clearly, but it’s very early days and it’s very early steps.”

Earle is also questioning why criminal charges have been laid. While he is relieved drugs and alcohol didn’t factor into the crash, he says he wants to know why this truck driver has been accused of dangerous driving.

“There’s no impairment charges laid, but what led to the circumstance for the individual to be charged? And we, like everybody who’s concerned about the safety of all of us traveling day-to-day, are going to be watching this very closely to make sure that we learn everything that we can.”

He also says he’s not surprised it took three months for charges to be approved because investigators have to consider every possible cause.

“The investigative work that goes into it is extraordinary. Talking crash experts, reenactments, going through and looking at every possible cause. So it doesn’t surprise me that it took this long, honestly.”

With files from Marcella Bernardo