MONTREAL: Hockey-mad Canada was in mourning on Saturday after a bus carrying a junior ice hockey team collided with a semi-trailer truck in Saskatchewan province, killing 14 people.

In a country where love of the sport is almost a religion, the crash sparked an outpouring of grief among players and fans on social media, while national political leaders expressed their sympathies.

“We can now confirm 14 people have died as a result of this collision,” the Royal Canadian Mounted Police said in a statement, which did not say how many of the victims were players or coaches of the Humboldt Broncos team. Of the total 28 people on the team bus, including the driver, 14 were taken to hospital with injuries.

“Three of these people have injuries that are critical in nature,” the RCMP said.

They gave no information about the status of the truck driver.

The crash took place at around 5:00 pm (2300 GMT) on Friday on Highway 35 about 28 kilometers north of the town of Tisdale, a trading center in an overwhelmingly agricultural region of the western province.

The team was heading north for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League play-off game against the Nipawin Hawks.

Police gave no indication of the cause, but early on Saturday special police investigators were still at the scene, which is roughly 150km east of Prince Albert City.

The Saskatchewan league is a feeder system for higher levels of hockey, with many graduating to play at US and Canadian colleges and major junior league level, while some go on to the National Hockey League.

Similar leagues operate throughout the country, their buses a regular feature of the vast country’s highways.

‘Devastated’

The Saskatoon Star Phoenix newspaper published on its website a photo of one player who survived, Derek Patter, lying side by side with two other injured players on hospital beds, clasping each others’ hands in support. One of the young men appeared to be wearing a neck brace.

“I cannot imagine what these parents are going through, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, in the Humboldt community and beyond,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tweeted. “Our Broncos family is in shock as we try to come to grips with our incredible loss,” Broncos team president Kevin Garinger said in a statement.

The team comprises 24 players, all from Canada, with the youngest aged 16 and the oldest 21.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2018