2013-09-19

Ottawa police have identified all six of the victims, which includes two young university students, of the collision between a city bus and a VIA Rail train in an Ottawa suburb Wednesday.

The victims are Carleton University students Connor Boyd and Kyle Nash, both 21, Michael Bleakney, 57, Karen Krzyzewski, 53, Rob More, 35 and the bus driver, Dave Woodard, 46. All were from the Ottawa area.

Woodard was at the wheel when the double-decker OC Transpo 76 slammed into the side of a VIA Rail passenger train near Barrhaven during the Wednesday morning commute.

FacebookKaren Krzyzewski's Facebook profile picture. She was identified as one of the victim's of Wednesday's crash.

Boyd’s mother confirmed his death on his Facebook page Wednesday night.

“I know many of you have been worried about Connor today and some have contacted me. It is with great sadness that I have to tell you that Connor passed away today. He was a wonderful son and a good friend and we are all a bit lost tonight,” Karen Rideout Boyd wrote, the Ottawa Citizen reports.

Nash was taking multimedia design at Carleton, according to his Linkedin profile.

Both Nash and Boyd graduated from John McCrae Secondary School in Barrhaven.

Krzyzewski, a mother of two adult children, worked for Library and Archives Canada for 28 years and studied at Carleton University, her family said in a statement.

“We are very saddened by the loss of Karen. She was a gentle spirit who was caring and compassionate to others. She loved life to the fullest,” her family said in a statement distributed by Ottawa police.

“She believed that libraries were an important part of Canadian culture and dedicated her working life to this.”

Our colleague, Karen, lost her life in yesterday’s collision. The enormity of her loss is difficult to express: goo.gl/ibKIkH—
LibraryArchiveCanada (@LibraryArchives) September 19, 2013

HandoutMichael Bleakney, 57, (L) and Rob More, 35, (R) were identified Thursday as two of the victims of the Ottawa bus crash.

Michael Bleakney had been geotechnical engineer with Public Works and Government Services Canada since 2001, according to his Linkedin profile.

Meanwhile, Woodard’s widow was defending her husband after many bus passengers said he ran through the barricade as the train passed by.

“Please stop saying bad things about him…he’s not a monster,” Terry Woodard said of her husband.

“My sympathy for the [families] also…but please let me tell you that Dave would of [stopped] at the barricades if he knew he had time. He’s an amazing driver,” Terry Woodard wrote on CTV Ottawa’s Facebook page Thursday.

Survivors on the bus said they screamed “Stop! Stop” as the bus hurtled through the flashing level crossing and barricade and into the side of the passing locomotive. The train derailed but no one on the train was hurt.

TSB investigators recovered the data recorders from the bus and locomotive involved in the collision Thursday morning. A TSB spokesperson said they may need assistance with the bus data recorder because they normally don’t investigate bus crashes.

One OC Transpo driver told the National Post‘s John Ivison that he has experienced brake problems with the new double-decker buses that the City of ottawa bought last year.

“I’ve sent three of them back — the calipers stick,” the driver said, he spoke on condition of anonymity.

The TSB has confirmed that brake failure is something they are looking into.

The driver also said the curve at the transit-way at Fallowfield station is notorious among bus drivers as a “bad corner,” which has poor sight lines and little room to brake.

Terry Woodard said her husband was in good health.

“He didn’t fall asleep at the wheel, he is always rested the night before he goes to work,” she told radio host John Oakley of 640AM Thursday morning.

“Like the news said either he didn’t see the light or he didn’t see the barricade, or they weren’t down on time… no one tells us anything as of now.”

Woodard said it took officials all of Wednesday afternoon to confirm it was her husband at the wheel of the bus.

“I don’t know how long this is going to take,” she said, sobbing.

NP GraphicsClick to Enlarge

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada is heading up the investigation and have not indicated any leads into the potential cause of the collision.

Dave Woodard was the father of one daughter and two stepsons and was featured in Ottawa media stories four years ago when he volunteered during a transit strike to drive vulnerable individuals in his own vehicle.

“Today I lost my HUSBAND the love of my LIFE my best friend the father of my daughter and a great step DAD to the boys…I don’t know what to say…I want him back so much…MISS you BABY…be always in my prayers in my mind, but most of all in my heart….life is not the same without you here…,” Terry Woodard wrote in a post on the Facebook page she shared with her husband.

Ottawa police said they would be releasing more information on the victims of the crash later Thursday. Police say all the victims have been identified and their families notified.

Via Rail says service between Ottawa and Toronto remains disrupted Thursday with charter buses being used on the route. The train, which partially derailed after the accident, was being put back on the track Thursday.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldThe scene following a Via Rail train and city bus collision in Ottawa's west end Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013.

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