The community of Dauphin is in collective mourning and largely leaning on each other for support as residents wait to hear the identities of 15 killed and 10 injured in a tragic highway collision on Friday.
Resident Florence Marchak said the accident is terrible for families of the affected, but also the whole community.
“We know many will be affected by this. Many,” she said from her home in Dauphin, where her and her husband, Mike, have lived most of their lives.
Marchak says they’re sure they’ll know some of the victims as names are released. The residents get meals delivered to them from the senior’s centre which facilitated the Thursday trip to Sand Hills Casino that turned deadly.
RCMP have not released any names of those killed or injured in the crash, leaving some in limbo, wondering if they knew anyone involved.
However, word travels quick in the city approximately 325 kilometers northwest of Winnipeg, and Dauphin’s mayor said anecdotes are making their way through the community, leaving some residents in need of aid.
“We’re a resilient little community, we’re coming together and we’re going to deal with this as a group,” he said Saturday afternoon outside a makeshift support centre set up in Dauphin’s curling rink.
Therapy dogs and coffee were on hand throughout the day for anyone who needed it.
Bosiak said the response to the centre has been “minimal” but suspects it’s because residents haven’t fully processed the event.
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“We’re just being prepared for all those possible circumstances,” he said.
Words of support have come in from across the country, from loved ones of the 2018 Humboldt, Sask. bus crash victims to Ottawa where Justin Trudeau offered his condolences.
The mayor said the community will be impacted “forever” by the incident, while a local priest said some are turning to prayer in response to the event.
Barry Nadolny, a priest at St. Paul’s Anglican Chuch, said he’s received phone calls from some residents asking to return to the church in the days since the accident.
“We’re all in a state of shock and now we’re into mourning and into grief and disbelief,” he said.
Nadolny said the tight-knit city has come together to support each other.
“Everybody knows somebody,” he said.
“It’s a togetherness.”
A vigil may be hosted as early as next week for the lives lost.
Investigation into the cause of the accident is still ongoing, RCMP said Friday afternoon. Mounties said dash cam footage seized from the semi-truck shows the trailer had the right of way when it collided with the minibus full of seniors on the Trans-Canada Highway.
The province’s chief medical examiner said teams may have to use dental and surgical records to identify some of the 15 killed due to significant injuries they sustained in the collision.
Shared Health said six of the 10 injured remain in critical condition as of Saturday morning. Nine patients are receiving treatment in Winnipeg and one is in care in Brandon.
– With files from Global’s Marney Blunt
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