THE Canadian Dominoes Association (CDA), comprising exclusively of Guyanese nationals living in Toronto, last Sunday night paid tribute to the fifteen people who died after a bus carrying a junior hockey team to a playoff game in Saskatchewan collided with a transport truck on a rural highway.

At a simple, but moving ceremony during a break from its annual winter dominoes tournament, being held at Starlite Restaurant & Bar, Scarborough, members of the association observed a minute’s silence as a mark of respect to those who died in the tragic accident.

The bus, carrying the Humboldt Broncos hockey team, crashed into a truck en route to Nipawin for a game last Friday night.

The Broncos were about 20 minutes away from their destination at the time of the crash.

The team’s bus was T-boned by a transport truck, according to the president of the Nipawin Hawks.

The truck driver was uninjured in the crash and was released after being questioned by police, Saskatchewan RCMP Assistant Commissioner Curtis Zablocki said. The driver is being provided with mental health and wellness assistance.

According to RCMP, the bus was travelling northbound on Highway 35 when it collided with the truck approximately 30 kilometres north of the small town of Tisdale. The truck had been travelling westbound on Highway 335.

Environment Canada data shows that it was a clear but cold night at the time of the accident. There are stop signs with flashing lights for both westbound and eastbound traffic on Highway 335 where it meets Highway 35.

Images from the scene show both vehicles partially overturned with the truck’s cargo littered across a snowy field. The front end of the team’s bus appears to be completely shorn off. (Frederick Halley)