5 killed as Canada train and double-decker bus collide

OTTAWA, Ontario Police say five people are dead after a passenger train collided with a city bus at a crossing in Canada's capital, Ottawa, at the peak of morning rush hour. Witnesses say the bus went through a closed crossing barrier.

Photos show the front end of the double-decker bus was ripped off by the impact with the Via Rail train.

It was Canada's worst train accident since an oil train derailed and exploded in a Quebec town in July, killing 47 people.

Via Rail posted a message on Twitter saying there were no reports of major injuries to passengers or crew on the train.

The accident just outside a suburban train station in the city's west end caused Via Rail to cancel trains on its Ottawa-Toronto route.

Pascal Lolgis, who witnessed the crash, said the bus appeared to drive through a lowered crossing barrier.

"Boom! It went into the train like that," Lolgis said. ""He just didn't stop."

Officials respond to the scene where a city bus collided with a Via Rail passenger train at a crossing in Ottawa, Ontario, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2013.

/ Terry Pedwell,AP Photo/The Canadian Press

Another witness, Mark Cogan, said the rail barrier was down.

"The train is going through," Cogan 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."

Rescue crews swarmed over the wreckage. The injured from the bus who would walk were taken to a second bus nearby to be treated by paramedics.

The train tracks in the area cross both a major city street and a transit line reserved for buses only.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne posted a message on Twitter: "Thinking of all families affected by horrible accident in Ottawa. Thanks to first responders on the scene."

Prime Minister Stephen Harper also took to Twitter to express his condolences: