Four people died and several others were injured in a bus accident on Christmas Eve. The incident happened on a highway in British Columbia, province of Canada.

Four people died and several were injured in a bus accident on a highway in British Columbia. The accident happened on New Year’s Eve, the local authorities announced on Sunday, December 25th.

A total of 53 people were admitted to four hospitals in the western Canadian province. Among them, 36 were treated “for serious to minor injuries,” it said internal healththe regional health authority.

As of Sunday morning, eight people were still hospitalized, including two in critical condition. According to the federal police commissioned with the investigation, everything indicates that the “extremely icy road” led to the overturning of the bus.

Extreme climatic conditions

British Columbia has been hit by winter storm warnings for the past week, bringing heavy snowfall, including in the area where the crash happened, a three-hour drive east of Vancouver.

“Our thoughts are with those affected by the accident, their families and first responders and carers,” British Columbia Prime Minister David Eby said in a statement, saying he was “shocked and saddened” by the news.

Since Friday, December 23, Canada has faced a series of winter storms sweeping the country from west to east. In Ontario, extreme conditions derailed a freight train on Saturday, causing all trains between Toronto and Ottawa and Toronto and Montreal to be canceled on Christmas Day.

Prior to this accident, a tree falling on a locomotive and power outages had already caused significant delays on Friday night, with some passengers waiting until nearly 6 p.m. between Ottawa and Toronto.