A bus carrying a junior ice hockey team collided with a truck on a rural highway in Canada´s western Saskatchewan province, killing at least 14 people, local media said Saturday citing police.
The Saskatoon StarPhoenix said 14 more were injured — including three critically — in Friday´s accident involving the Humboldt Broncos team bus.
The bus was carrying 28 people including the driver.
Police said the crash took place at around 5:00 pm about 28 kilometers (18 miles) north of the town of Tisdale, a trading center in an overwhelmingly agricultural region.
The team was heading north for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game against the Nipawin Hawks.
The Saskatchewan league is a feeder system for higher levels of hockey with many graduating to play at US and Canadian colleges and major junior league level, while some go on to the National Hockey League.
“It is a significant accident, we had a tractor trailer and a bus collide,” Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector Ted Monro told a press conference, declining to give details about the victims.
The condition of the truck´s driver is unknown.
The Saskatchewan Health Authority said on Twitter it was dealing with a “high volume of incoming trauma cases” at Royal University Hospital and St Paul´s Hospital, both located in Saskatoon some 250 kilometers (150 miles) away from the crash site.
Victims´ families were directed to Nipawin Apostolic Church for information and support.
“I cannot imagine what these parents are going through, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, in the Humboldt community and beyond,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.