Update: 14 dead, 3 critical, after collision between hockey team bus and truck in Canada

Latest: Canadian police say 14 people were killed when a bus carrying an ice hockey team collided with a truck.

Update: 14 dead, 3 critical, after collision between hockey team bus and truck in Canada

Update - 3.45pm: Fourteen people were killed and 14 injured after a lorry collided with a bus carrying a junior hockey team to a playoff game in Canada, police have said.

Twenty-eight people, including the driver, were on board the bus of the Humboldt Broncos team when the crash occurred at around 5pm local time on Friday on Highway 35 in Saskatchewan, police said.

"We can now confirm fourteen people have died as a result of this collision," the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement.

"The other fourteen people were sent to hospitals with a variety of injuries; three of these people have injuries that are critical in nature."

Emergency crews responding to the scene. Photo: 650 CKOM/980 CJME via AP.
Emergency crews responding to the scene. Photo: 650 CKOM/980 CJME via AP.

No names were released and police would not say whether players or coaches were among the dead. There was no mention of the lorry driver.

The team president said parents from across Western Canada were rushing to the scene as they struggled to cope with the tragedy.

"It's one of the hardest days of my life," said Kevin Garinger.

"There have been multiple fatalities - our whole community is in shock, we are grieving and we will continue to grieve throughout this ordeal as we try to work towards supporting each other."

Michelle Straschnitzki, who lives in Airdrie, said her 18-year-old son Ryan had been taken to hospital in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

"We talked to him but he said he couldn't feel his lower extremities so I don't know what's going on," she said. "I am freaking out. I am so sad for all of the teammates and I am losing my mind."

The team was on its way to play in game five of a semi-final against the Nipawin Hawks.

Darren Opp, president of the Hawks, said: "It's a horrible accident, my God. It's very, very bad."

Mr Opp said the coaching staff and players from the Hawks were waiting to help.

Update - 1.07pm: Canadian police say 14 people were killed when a bus carrying an ice hockey team collided with a truck.

8.42am: 'Mulitple deaths' after collision between truck and hockey team bus

A crash between a lorry and a bus carrying a junior hockey team in western Canada has left multiple people dead and others seriously injured, Canadian police say.

The bus was carrying the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League to the town of Nipawin for a play-off game. It collided with a transporter truck.

"There have been multiple fatalities - our whole community is in shock," said Kevin Garinger, president of the Humboldt Broncos of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have not released how many people died or were injured in the crash.

Mr Garinger said parents from across western Canada are rushing to the scene as they struggle to cope with the tragedy.

"It's a horrible accident, my God," said Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks hockey team. "It's very, very bad."

Mr Opp said the truck hit the side of the players' bus, adding that the coaching staff and players from the Hawks are waiting to help.

"They are sitting in the church just waiting to hear any good news," he said. "There's uncles and moms and dads waiting to hear whether their sons and nephews are OK."

Pastor Jordan Gadsby at the Apostolic Church in Nipawin said more than a hundred people gathered at the church. "Some of them are waiting to hear if their kids are alive."

Mr Gadsby said they know there are multiple fatalities, but they have not heard how many.

Mr Garinger, who has one of the players living in his home, said they still don't know his fate.

"We don't know who has passed and we don't expect to know right away," he said. "We know that the coroner and their office need to do their work and let families know."

Kevin Henry, a coach who runs a hockey school in Prince Albert, said people are in shock. "It is sort of every parent's worst nightmare."

"This is I would think one of the darkest days in the history of Saskatchewan, especially because hockey is so ingrained in how we grow up here," Henry said.

The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League is a Junior 'A' hockey league under Hockey Canada, which is part of the Canadian Junior Hockey League. It is open to North American-born players between the ages of 16 and 20.

RCMP said the collision occurred late Friday afternoon.

"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," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted.

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