In the wake of a major incident like the crash that killed 15 people and sent 10 more to hospital on Thursday in Manitoba, investigators have their work cut out for them.
Forensic expert Jason Young of Advantage Forensics told Global Winnipeg that, all told, a full investigation of the collision will likely take, at minimum, three or four months — likely longer.
“It’s a very extensive investigation. You’re looking at documenting all of the vehicle factors, all of the road factors, all of the witness statements,” he said.
“There’s an incredible amount of information that has to be processed before investigators can even have an idea of what was the cause of the collision.
“It’s a terrible collision, a tragic loss of life, and the amount of evidence that has to be processed at the scene is just overwhelming.”
Young, who isn’t working on the Manitoba investigation, said in his line of work, he’s seen a “balancing act” required by police and other public officials when it comes to this kind of tragic situation.
“There are so many victims. The police have to be very sensitive to handling the investigation in a subtle way,” he said.
“There’s so much that has to be done before findings can be reached. … But at the same time, there are so many questions that people will demand answers for.”
A crash like the one near Carberry, Man., on Thursday, he said, can potentially have an impact on even the most seasoned investigators who have years or decades of forensic experience.
“There’s a certain desensitization that people in this industry have to have to be able to do our work, to be able to look at these collisions in an unbiased way, impartially.
“But in a case like this when there’s so much loss of life, it can be overwhelming at times.”
Former RCMP highway patrol officer Rob Creaser told 680 CJOB’s The Start that tragedies like this one — or the 2018 Humboldt, Sask., bus crash — can linger with police and other first responders for years after the fact.
Creaser said that even though he’s been retired from the force for some time, he still continues to work through many of the incidents he attended in his career, and hopes the Mounties have better mental health support than they did when he was an officer.
After arriving at the site of Thursday’s crash, Creaser said, police would have worked quickly to secure the scene.
“Trying to preserve life if they find people alive, that’s your first priority, and once those people are dealt with, you’re speaking to witnesses and you’re protecting the scene until somebody like a collision reconstructionist can get there and start putting things together,” he said.
Because the highway has been reopened, the RCMP have likely gathered as much evidence as they could from the scene, he said, but they will continue speaking to witnesses and analyzing data going forward.
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