11 people taken to hospital after school bus crashes into home in Burnaby, B.C., first responders say

Paramedics say 11 people were taken to hospital Thursday morning after a school bus crashed into a house in Burnaby, B.C.

Police said the bus collided with a car before smashing into the front of a home at the corner of Canada Way and 16th Avenue. 

The incident happened just before 8 a.m. PT, according to B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), which said the 11 patients taken to hospital were in stable condition.

Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Mike Kalanj said a sedan travelling west on Canada Way collided with the school bus, which was pulling out of 16th Avenue, and the bus then jumped the curb and ended up in the house.

Kalanj did not say what school the bus was associated with, but said it was based outside Burnaby. He said 11 teenagers were on the bus, all of whom were taken to hospital to be assessed and then picked up by their parents.

Kalanj said the driver of the bus was not injured.

"When you hear a school bus has crashed into a house — while we're not happy this has happened — it could have been a whole lot worse," said Kalanj, who praised both the Burnaby Fire Department and BCEHS for looking after the occupants of the bus.

'I would have been dead'

Adrian Striga told CBC News the bus crashed into the room of the building where he lives.

"It's very scary because if I would have been there I would have been dead," said Striga, who added that he has been renting at the property for the past eight months.

Striga said the intersection is often busy with traffic and he routinely hears honks and screeches from the road. Traffic on Canada Way has priority, with motorists on 16th Avenue having to stop before turning or driving across.

"I even cracked a joke to my friend that one day something is going to come through my bedroom — and now a bus came through my bedroom because it's such a bad corner," Striga said.

"Canada Way and 16th — they need a light there."

Kalanj said impairment has been ruled out as a factor in the crash. Investigators are now looking for video recorded on dashcam or CCTV to try to piece together the circumstances that caused the collision.