BURNABY, B.C. – Adrian Striga says that if he had slept in Thursday morning, it could have cost him his life.
Instead, the carpenter was at work when a private school bus crashed through the window of his Burnaby apartment and into his empty bedroom just before 8 a.m.
“I was at work and I got a call from one of the other neighbours and there’s a bus through the house, literally through my room where I sleep,” he said.
Eleven people were sent to hospital and are in stable condition after the crash, BC Emergency Health Services said in a statement.
Cpl. Mike Kalanj with the Burnaby RCMP said there were “about a dozen kids on the bus.”
He said four children were complaining of minor injuries but the entire group was taken to hospital as a precaution.
“Now that we know everyone’s safe, and they are where they need to be, being taken care of by the right people, we’re diving into the actual investigation, talking to witnesses to see exactly what occurred before and after the collision,” he said.
Kalanj said the early part of the investigation indicates the bus was hit by a second vehicle and went into the home. He said the driver of the other vehicle had some minor injuries but was not taken to hospital.
The bus will be examined for mechanical problems once it has been removed from the wall, he said.
Impairment has been ruled out as a cause of the crash, he said.
The 24-seat bus with “Khalsa School” written on its side jumped the curb, crashed through a low brink wall and was lodged in the front of the building.
Striga said there are three apartments in the basement of the home at the corner of Canada Way and 16th Avenue.
Standing outside on Thursday, Striga said he was feeling emotional and upset as police waited for an engineer to arrive to assess any dangers before the bus could be pulled out.
“I don’t even know if I’m going have a place to stay. I don’t have renters’ insurance and the owner’s insurance doesn’t cover for a hotel for me to stay,” he said.
He said his family has already launched an online fundraising campaign to help him.
“I don’t even know what to think right now. The more I talk about it, the more reality is hitting,” he said.
Feature image: A school bus that crashed into a home on 16th Ave in Burnaby B.C. is shown on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Eleven people have been sent to hospital. BC Emergency Health Services says in a statement that all 11 patients are in stable condition. Health Services says the call came in just before 8 a.m. today about the accident. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ethan Cairns
