Police have identified the six people who were killed when a public transit bus collided with a Via Rail train at a crossing in Ottawa on Wednesday.
The victims are passengers Michael Bleakney, 57, Connor Boyd, 21, Karen Krzyzewski, 53, Rob More, 35, and Kyle Nash, 21, and 45-year-old OC Transpo driver Dave Woodard, whose identity was confirmed Wednesday night. All six were residents of Ottawa.
Boyd and Nash were Carleton University students. The university is offering grief counselling to students and staff who knew the young men.
In an email, Nash’s father Richard said his family is “utterly devastated by Kyle’s tragic and premature death.”
Richard Nash said he and his wife were leaving Ottawa when they learned of the crash in the morning.
“Since there was a chance that Kyle may have been on the bus we immediately turned around and began a day long search for Kyle that ended when we received the horrendous news at about 7 p.m.,” Richard Nash wrote in the email to CTV News. “Everyone in our family and circle of friends is heartbroken by the loss of such a remarkable young man. He was deeply, deeply loved.”
Woodard's widow defended her late husband Thursday amid speculation about his role in the tragic collision, which left more than 30 others injured.
In an interview with CTV Ottawa Morning Live, Terry Woodard said her husband had a clean driving record and she doesn't want people to think he was a bad driver.
As for the cause of the crash, she thinks something went wrong.
"I just want to say, my sympathies to the other families and please don't blame him. Something must have gone wrong because there's no way he would have just driven through," Terry Woodard said by telephone. "His main job was to make sure that his passengers were safe."
The collision occurred on a dedicated public transit road a day after the couple celebrated her 50th birthday. Dave Woodard surprised his wife with flowers and balloons at work.
Terry Woodard said her husband was a wonderful man who had "the greatest heart" and would put the welfare of others ahead of his own.
"I don't know what to say. I miss him already and he's been gone only one day," she said.
Dave Woodard, a father of two daughters, worked with OC Transpo for nearly 10 years. He was profiled by CTV News four years ago during a transit strike when he assisted vulnerable people by driving them in his own vehicle.
TSB recovers bus and train data recorders
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is leading the investigation and has not revealed any details about the potential cause. Investigators say it will likely be months before they publicly confirm the cause and any contributing factors.
People who were on board the 82-seat bus said passengers shouted at the driver to stop as it approached the crossing, but the vehicle went through a lowered safety gate and crashed into the Toronto-bound train near a transit station. Several witnesses said the rail crossing's warning system, including the gate and flashing lights, were functioning properly.
Speaking to reporters in Montreal, Via Rail president and CEO Marc Laliberte said there were no problems with the crossing signals or gates.
“Everything was functioning normally, perfectly,” Laliberte said Thursday.
As part of their investigation, TSB officials are looking into how the bus and passenger train were being operated and how fast they were travelling when they collided at the level crossing in the southwest suburb of Barrhaven during the morning commute.
In addition to interviews with survivors and witnesses, data recorders from the locomotive and double-decker bus may provide answers. Investigators are also analyzing video from at least one surveillance camera inside the bus.
The train was not equipped with a video camera, said lead investigator Robert Johnston.
The fact that the bus driver is dead will pose a challenge, Johnston told reporters at the crash site.
Laliberte said there were two engineers in the locomotive.
Other things that are being investigated include the mechanical state of the vehicles, condition of the track, road alignment and whether the crossing's warning barriers and lights were functioning as the witnesses stated.
Once the federal agency identifies a cause, it will issue a report containing its findings and any recommendations in an attempt to prevent similar collisions.
Overnight, heavy equipment was used to put the derailed train back on the tracks. Later in the morning, crews repaired a damaged section of the tracks. Via Rail service between Ottawa and Toronto is still suspended, and the company is using buses to transport passengers between the cities.
Citing records dating back to 2002, officials said there have been no reports of collisions at the crossing.
With files from CTV News.
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