Two young children have died
after a bus crashed into a day care center near Montreal, and the driver has
been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter
for what police believe was a deliberate act.
"We believe this is deliberate, but we don't know why," said Pierre Brochet, police chief of Laval, a town outside Montreal where the tragedy occurred.
The 51-year-old driver, arrested shortly after the events for "homicide and reckless driving," was being questioned by police, Brochet added.
He had no criminal record.
He has not yet been formally charged and the circumstances of the tragedy remain unclear, police said.
A man purposely crashed a bus into a kindergarten and killed two children (REUTERS).
It was some parents who came to drop their children off at the nursery who dominated the man, who
appeared "agitated" and was "half naked"
, according to witnesses.
Quebec emergency services said one of the two children died at the scene.
The other died after being treated by paramedics.
The other six hospitalized children were out of danger.
"I helped stop the driver who got off the bus," a parent told
Radio Canada
before breaking down in tears.
According to his wife, the parents present saw him "deliberately run to the nursery."
No adults were injured in the collision.
Some parents who came to drop off their children at the nursery dominated the driver, who appeared "agitated" and was "half naked" (REUTERS).
A large security perimeter was still deployed around the site, where there were dozens of emergency and police vehicles with flashing lights on.
A helicopter flew over the area at regular intervals.
"I am devastated. We all are," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said.
"I can't imagine what the families are going through," he added.
In a dead end
The tragedy occurred around 8.30 on Wednesday.
Several injured children were trapped under the bus
before being freed, rescuers said.
The facility, where between 80 and 85 children attend, is located in a
cul-de-sac
.
The bus was embedded in a part of the nursery that is not on the edge of the road, but in a parking lot.
Part of the roof collapsed at the front of the bus.
"My head is spinning, I have a hard time talking. All I can say here is that I am outraged," said Mona Gilot, 54, who has worked at the daycare center for a year.
On snow-covered sidewalks, parents rushed to collect their children, who were evacuated from daycare in this residential area of Quebec's third-largest city.
Many parents were "shocked" (REUTERS).
"It's the older children's class that was affected," said a mother holding her son, noting that many parents were "in shock."
A crisis unit was set up at a nearby school.
"What a terrible tragedy this morning in Laval. There is nothing worse than being afraid for your son. I am thinking of the children, the parents and the employees," Quebec Prime Minister François Legault tweeted.
About 500km southwest of Laval, Toronto's iconic
CN
Tower will turn off its lights for five minutes at the start of every evening hour in memory of the victims of this attack.
In 2018, Alek Minassian rammed a crowd in downtown Toronto, killing 11 and injuring 16, the deadliest car ramming attack in Canadian history.
AFP Agency.
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