‘There’s just sorrow’: Bus driver says rides must continue in wake of deadly crash

Doug Westhouse, a driver for Grand Plains Handivan, says there’s ‘just sorrow’ when he thinks about the recent bus crash that killed 15 near Dauphin, Manitoba.

Doug Westhouse sits straight behind the wheel of a 12-passenger bus driving along a rural Manitoba highway waiting for the next call for a ride.

The coordinator and driver for Grand Plains Handivan in Grandview, Man., slows the hefty vehicle down as an oncoming semi-trailer truck passes by on Highway 5.

He says he’s been thinking a lot about another minibus, not much larger than the one he drives, that crashed with a semi last week on the same road. Fifteen seniors on the bus were killed.

“There’s just sorrow,” Westhouse says.

The bus was heading south on Highway 5, carrying a group of seniors from Dauphin and the surrounding area to a casino Thursday, when it crossed the Trans-Canada Highway and went into the path of the truck near the town of Carberry, some 190 kilometres to the south.

Health officials have said 10 others on the bus, including the driver, were in hospital. Five were in critical condition.

“Being familiar with that corner, it’s a dangerous corner,” says Westhouse, shaking his head.

“They should have stoplights there.”