By Canadian Press

‘Serious injuries’ as bus crashes into daycare in Montreal suburb, driver arrested

Feb 8, 2023 | 7:51 AM

LAVAL, Que. — Quebec Premier François Legault says there are “serious injuries” after a city bus crashed into a daycare Wednesday morning in a suburb north of Montreal.

Public Security Minister François Bonnardel told reporters that police in Laval, Que., arrested the driver.

“It’s premature to give you the number of injured … it’s terrible. It’s a terrible tragedy,” Bonnardel said in Quebec City.

Legault said his thoughts are with the children and their families, as well as with the employees of the daycare in Laval.

“What we know is that a bus crashed into a daycare and there are serious injuries,” Legault told reporters.

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“We are going to give the parents all the help we can, and as a father, I am shaken.”

Quebec’s emergency services say at least one child has been sent to hospital with serious injuries and that emergency rooms across the area are on alert.

Aerial news footage from the scene shows a Société de transport de Laval bus that has smashed through the front of the daycare. Laval police said they received a 911 call at about 8:30 a.m., but they were unable to give details about what caused the bus to hit the daycare.

The daycare is located at the end of a driveway, and the bus driver would have had to leave the road and drive down the driveway to hit the building.

In Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau responded to the crash. “Our thoughts are with families in Laval who are living incredibly difficult moments … we hope that everyone will be OK,” he said. “We are following the situation closely.”

Police have set up a large perimeter around the daycare as distraught parents arrive to check on the state of their children.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 8, 2023.

The Canadian Press