2nd monument in honour of Manitoba’s deadliest bus crash will salute first responders, Carberry mayor says
A second monument to remember those involved in Manitoba’s deadliest bus crash over a year ago is set to be unveiled during a Sunday afternoon ceremony, but this one will be placed in the town whose firefighters were the first responders to arrive at the crash site.
Seventeen people were killed when a bus carrying 25 people — most of them seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area —headed to a casino near Carberry, Man., for a day trip was hit by a semi at a Trans-Canada Highway intersection on June 15, 2023.
Carberry Mayor Ray Muirhead says members of the Carberry North Cypress-Langford Fire Department were some of the first people to respond to the crash, but emergency personnel from across Manitoba came together to care for the people who were on the bus.
That includes fire departments in Neepawa and Brandon, Shared Health’s emergency medical services, Manitoba RCMP, the STARS air ambulance, as well as hospitals in Brandon, Portage la Prairie and Winnipeg, he said.
![A man with short grey hair, black-rimmed glasses, and wearing a blue jean jacket looks forward.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7235531.1723392823!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/carberry-mayor-ray-muirhead.jpg)
While the monument unveiled in Dauphin earlier this summer focused on the people who were on the bus, Muirhead says the one in Carberry will focus on the first responders.
“We want to commemorate them because a lot of them [saw] some stuff that nobody would want to see, and some of them have had a hard time with it, so we want to make sure that they’re accounted for, too,” he told CBC on Saturday.
“We as a community are very proud of each and every one of them for what they’ve done, and I can’t forget too that there were several passersby and people that came across the accident that stopped and helped where they could … so we have to remember those as well.”
![A monument is pictured. It has a heart shape on it with two people holding hands.](https://i.cbc.ca/1.7236458.1723392681!/fileImage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/original_780/dauphin-monument.jpg)
Premier Wab Kinew revealed during the June ceremony that the province will award those who responded to the crash with the Order of the Buffalo Hunt — the highest honour the premier can bestow.
The newest monument, which will be unveiled during a ceremony set to start at 3 p.m., is placed in Carberry’s Day Lily Park in the north end of the town.
Muirhead says some of the family members who lost loved ones in the crash helped design the monument. A group of about 60 people from Dauphin are expected to make their way to Carberry for the ceremony.
He said the province covered much of the costs associated with the two monuments, and several businesses, organizations and people in Carberry have made donations for the area surrounding the monument, including a nursery that donated 17 trees in honour of the dead.
“It’s going to be quite a nice place.”
View original article here Source