Multiple people injured as bus carrying minor hockey team crashes on QEII north of Edmonton

Alberta RCMP say multiple people have been injured after a coach carrying a minor hockey team crashed on Highway 2, just south of Athabasca.

Mounties responded to the collision in the early hours of Friday, Dec. 12, roughly 140 km north of Edmonton.

Reports indicate that the bus was carrying a local Junior A hockey team — the Athabasca Rivermen — made up of 15 to 19-year-olds, south on the QEII when it lost control and entered a ditch.

The Rivermen were on their way to southern Alberta to play the Crowsnest Crush Friday evening. That game has since been cancelled.

Aftermath of a collision involving a bus carrying a minor hockey team south of Athabasca. (Photo Courtesy: Alberta RCMP)

Several people on the bus sustained injuries, including two minors who were taken to a hospital in Edmonton with non-life-threatening injuries. Others reported minor injuries or soreness and were treated at the scene.

RCMP say poor road conditions are believed to have been a factor in the collision, noting that at the time, highways in the area were partially covered by snow and ice, with temperatures being around -37 Celsius.