Eight children were taken to hospital with minor injuries after a school bus collided with a tractor in the Rural Municipality of Grey on Tuesday morning.
Treherne RCMP say officers responded around 9 a.m. on May 13 to the crash near the intersection of Road 37 West and Road 43 North. Emergency Medical Services were already on scene attending to bus occupants when police arrived.
According to the initial investigation, a grader had been pushing debris along Road 37 West, with a tractor and mulcher following behind to collect it. The school bus, carrying 31 students from the Prairie Spirit School Division, rear-ended the tractor. The grader, which was operating in the ditch, was not involved in the collision.
“An RCMP spokesperson said ditch maintenance was being done on the road and due to the dust cloud that accumulated from that, the bus driver was unable to see the tractor pulling the mulcher that was following the grader, ultimately leading to the rear-end. The tractor and mulcher were on the road, and the grader was in the ditch, leaving it out of the collision.”
Eight students were transported to nearby hospitals with minor injuries. Both the bus and tractor drivers were also taken to hospital as a precaution.
RCMP say alcohol is not believed to be a factor. The investigation is ongoing, with support from the Manitoba RCMP Criminal Collision Investigation Team.
