Toronto, Canada— The road looked wet, not icy. On Tuesday morning an intercity coach running the Toronto-Ottawa corridor hit a shaded curve where overnight rain had frozen into black ice. It slid, left the pavement, and tipped into a ditch. Seven people were hurt.
CBC News said the crash occurred at around 8:10 a.m. near Napanee, on Highway 401. The bus carried 32 passengers. The driver braked when he saw ice, then the rear swung. The coach left the road at low speed and settled on its side in soft ground.
Ontario Provincial Police said seven passengers were taken to Kingston General Hospital with fractures and lacerations. None are life-threatening. The rest were taken by replacement bus to a community center for assessment. The driver was unhurt and passed a sobriety test.
"It was a sudden slide," a passenger in his twenties said from the hospital waiting room. "We were all talking, then everything tilted. Luggage fell. People shouted." He had a broken wrist.
The Ministry of Transportation had issued a slick road advisory for eastern Ontario after temperatures dipped to minus two overnight. The advisory warned of patchy frost on bridges and overpasses. The stretch where the bus left is known for pooling water.
Bus company officials said the coach was equipped with winter tires and electronic stability control. The vehicle was three years old. Maintenance logs show an inspection last month. The black box was recovered.
Intercity bus travel in Canada has faced scrutiny since a series of winter crashes in 2023 and 2024. The Transportation Safety Board recommended better real-time road friction reporting. That system is still pilot-stage.
OPP said the highway was reduced to one lane for six hours while heavy tow trucks lifted the bus. Traffic backed up eight kilometers. Drivers were rerouted through county roads that were also slick.
Tonight the bus sits in an impound lot in Napanee. Seven passengers remain in hospital. The highway is open, but still wet.
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