Highway 11 reopened from North Bay to Cobalt after transport, school bus crash

Highway 11 is reopened between Highway 11B in Cobalt to Thibeault Hill in North Bay on Wednesday morning following a crash between a transport and school bus.

Emergency crews at Highway 11 crash involving a transport truck and school bus with children on board as traffic comes to a stop. Jan. 17/24 (Skilled Truckers Canada)

Bradley Boros, a foreman for Ontario Northland, told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in a phone interview he was one of the first people on the scene at Kanichee Mine Rd. in Temagami around 7:30 a.m.

Ryan Hartling, the transportation supervisor for North East Tri-Board Student Transportation told CTV News in an email, they received word of the crash involving one of their contracted school buses around 7:35 a.m.

When Boros saw the school bus, he said he immediately pulled over to check on them and make sure everyone was OK.

There were approximately 10 students were on board the bus at the time of the crash.

"I think they were all pretty shook up, they were all pretty quiet on the bus there," he said.

The driver told him everyone was OK and there were no injuries, so Boros said he went and stopped traffic on the highway.

"It was nice to see ... the amount of vehicles that pulled over, like there wasn't a vehicle that just drove by, everybody pulled over," he said.

Hartling said as per the bus company policy, every student who was on the bus during the crash was assessed by paramedics.

"No injuries were reported," he said.

"Families have been contacted through the schools and police are investigating the cause of the incident."

When asked about the road condition and if they were slippery this morning, Boros said, "No, they were fine. I found that weird."

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DOMINO EFFECT

A second crash on Highway 11 north of North Bay between a passenger vehicle and another transport truck has also been reported Wednesday morning by Skilled Truckers Canada on social media.

Ken Snarr is a retired truck driver who now drives a school bus.

He was stopped on Highway 11 following the crash with the other school bus when the second crash happened, he told CTV News in a social media chat. 

"I was a few vehicles back and didn't see what happened and couldn't get out of the school bus to look because I had a student on board," Snarr said.

While they were stopped in traffic, he said he saw a northbound SUV crash into the back of a stopped transport truck as a result.

Adding, the driver of the passenger vehicle was not paying attention to the road.

"Plus had two people pass me while we were stopped just trying to get up front of the lineup of stopped vehicles," Snarr said.

The highway reopened shortly before 10:30 a.m., Ontario 511 said in a tweet.

Chuck Seguin of Nipissing - Parry Sound Student Transportation Service told CTV News in a phone interview the bus involved was operated by North East Tri-Board Student Transportation.

CTV News reached out to Ontario Provincial Police for comment, check back for updates on this news story.

School bus and transport truck involved in a crash on Highway 11 at Kanichee Mine Road in Temagami. Jan. 17/24 (Skilled Truckers Canada)

A commercial driver from Sudbury was charged with careless driving on Monday after crashing into a school bus carrying children on Highway 17.

WEATHER ALERT

The North Bay area is currently under a winter weather travel advisory.

Winter weather travel advisories are in effect for North Bay, Powassan and Mattawa on Wednesday as well due to lake-effect snow.

The snow continues throughout the morning and is expected to taper off late Wednesday afternoon as the weather system moves south.

Five to 10 cm of more snow is expected for Jan. 17.

Heavy and blowing snow will affect visibility in this area.