Canada highway crash near Winnipeg leaves at least 15 dead

At least 15 people have died after a “very serious” crash in the Canadian province of Manitoba, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said.

The crash was between a semi-trailer truck and a handi-transit vehicle, which was carrying mostly seniors.

Police said the crash happened on the Trans-Canada Highway near Carberry, two hours west of Winnipeg. Emergency crews and air ambulances have responded to the crash, reports said.

In several tweets, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) in Manitoba said it was responding to a “very serious… mass causality” collision, and that all of its resources, including its major crime unit, had been deployed to the scene.

The incident happened around 12:35 local time on Thursday (18:35 BST), according to a provincial advisory. The RCMP had asked motorists to avoid the area as a several kilometers of the highway were closed near the crash site.

(BBC)