Six die as Canadian bus hits train

Six people on a bus have died after it hit a passenger train on a level crossing in Ottawa. Another 30 have been injured, some critically.

It was Canada's second major rail accident this year coming just months after an oil train derailed and exploded in a Quebec town in July, killing 47 people.

No-one on the train was seriously hurt although its engine and one passenger car were derailed in the accident in a busy suburb of the capital.

Bus passenger Tanner Trepaniere said he could see the train bearing down on them as the bus approached the crossing. "People started screaming, 'Stop, stop!' because they could see the train coming down the track," said Trepaniere, who was sitting on the top of the double decker

Witnesses said the bus ploughed through a lowered crossing barrier and directly into the side of the passing, four-car train.

Another passenger Rebbecca Guilbeault said: "I don't know if the bus driver blacked out. He didn't slow down, and it just impacted with the train,. I've seen a few people dead, someone ripped in half."

Mark Cogan said the rail barrier was down. "The train is going through," he said. "And I was just looking around, just watching things happen. And noticed that in the bus lane, the double-decker bus ... I saw him, and he just kept going.

"I just thought maybe there's a side way around or something, but instantly, he just ... he smoked the train. He went through the guard rail and just hammered the train, and then it was just mayhem."