As police continue their investigation into a bus crash that killed four passengers and injured dozens of others on Christmas Eve, family members in Canada and in India are mourning the death of a man who just arrived in Canada on a work permit three months ago.
Kelowna RCMP confirmed four people died in the single-vehicle crash on Highway 97C near Loon Lake, east of Merritt on Saturday night. The full bus was westbound about 6 p.m. when it rolled in icy conditions onto its passenger side, ending up in the eastbound lanes of the highway that connects Kelowna to the Coquihalla Highway.
Kalwinder Singh, a long-haul trucker from Surrey, said his cousin, Karanjot Singh Sodhi, 41, died in the crash, leaving his wife, a six-year-old son and two-year-old daughter, in Punjab.
Singh, who is the same age as Sodhi and grew up with him in their hometown of Butala, said his family and the whole village are mourning his death. “He has a big family,” said Singh. “The whole village is very upset.”
Sodhi arrived in Canada on a work visa in mid-September. Singh had driven him to the winery and restaurant in Oliver where Sodhi was permitted to work under his visa and was employed as a chef.
“He liked the town very much,” said Singh.
Sodhi was travelling to Surrey to stay with Singh over the holidays so he could take his test to become a permanent resident, scheduled for Jan. 2. His plan was to get his residency and move his family to Canada.
“He was going to celebrate the New Year with us,” Singh said.
Singh spoke with his cousin on the phone while he was on the bus. He was due in Surrey at 9:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve and Singh’s wife was concerned when he wasn’t answering his phone that evening. They learned about the crash on the 11 p.m. news.
Singh, who has driven a truck on highways both in Canada and the U.S., said that the part of the Okanagan Connector where the crash happened suffers from bad conditions every winter.
“You as the media have to let the government know how bad it is,” Singh told Postmedia News. “They did not clear the road. This is very terrible for the truckers. It’s too slippery.”
Singh said it took him 12 hours to drive from Golden to Surrey before Christmas, a trip that usually takes almost six hours, because of poor road conditions. During the past two weeks Singh said he saw multiple crashes on the roads every day, the worst stretches between Hope and Kamloops, Kamloops and Revelstoke and Revelstoke and Golden.
The names of those who died will be released by the coroner’s office after next of kin are notified, Kelowna RCMP spokesman Const. James Ward said Monday.
At the crash site on Saturday, survivors were comforted by locals from nearby Aspen Grove and Loon Lake while awaiting ambulances and they were later transported to hospital, said Ward. They were taken to hospitals in Penticton, Kelowna and Kamloops
Seven remained in hospital on Monday with non-threatening injuries, Health Minister Adrian Dix said on Twitter.
The bus, which was travelling from Kelowna to Vancouver, belongs to Alberta-based Ebus.
Police are working to confirm the number of passengers on the bus, as they try to reconcile the passenger list, which might not have included the names of passengers who bought tickets just before boarding, with the lists provided by the ambulance service and the hospitals. Some passengers transported to hospitals might have left after their names were taken but before being treated, said Ward.
It’s important to have a full list for the investigation because it’s possible the crash could lead to charges, said Ward. The bus has been impounded in a secure location for a mechanical inspection.
