Driver suffered medical event in B.C. school bus crash that injured 30, killed 1 pedestrian

An investigation has found that the cause of a school bus crash that hurt more than 30 people and killed one pedestrian in B.C.’s Interior was a tragic accident.

BC Highway Patrol confirmed that no criminality was involved in the June 21 crash when a school bus full of 31 children and four adults drove off the road and into a ditch on Highway 97 just north of Lac La Hache.

“BC Highway Patrol wrote search warrants, reviewed in-car computers and video evidence, took witness statements, and carefully examined the scene,” Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with BC Highway Patrol said on Friday.

2:13 Crashed B.C. school bus was filled with grade 6s, 7s, superintendent says

“The evidence shows that the driver of the school bus was the subject of a medical event and there was no criminality associated to this tragic collision.”

The 60-year-old driver of the school bus, a Cariboo resident, is still recovering from serious injuries. She will not be charged with any offences.

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School District 27 superintendent Chris van der Mark told Global News at the time that the students on the bus were in grades 6 and 7 from 100 Mile Elementary and Horse Lake Elementary schools.

The school group was returning from an overnight field trip at Gavin Lake when the bus went off the highway.

2:44 Pedestrian killed in school bus crash in the Cariboo

A pedestrian was struck and killed when the man, in his 70s, had stopped to help the victims and was hit by an SUV on Highway 97.

“There were no signs of impairment, carelessness, or distraction from the driver of the SUV, and the vehicle was going below the speed limit,” McLaughlin added.

“The SUV driver could not see the aftermath of the bus collision due to a bend in the highway, and the driver’s last-second efforts to evade the pedestrian did not work.”

McLaughlin added that while this collision deeply affected the small community and the outcome is tragic, no one is left in the dark about how it happened.