A shocked Canada was in mourning after a bus carrying a junior ice hockey team collided with a semi-trailer truck in Saskatchewan province, killing 15 people.
In a country where love of the sport is almost a religion, the crash sparked an outpouring of grief among players and fans, while national political leaders and the head of the National Hockey League expressed their sympathies.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which said determining the cause of the accident would require some time, did not say how many of the victims were players or coaches of the Humboldt Broncos team, which hails from a town of 6,000 people.
Police said that there had been 29 people on board the team bus, including the driver, and 14 were injured, including some in critical condition.
"An entire country is in shock and mourning today," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said yesterday.
"We are heartbroken knowing many of those we lost had their entire lives in front of them... This is every parent's worst nightmare. No one should ever have to see their child leave to play the sport they love and never come back."
"The images can't be unseen or forgotten, the stories can't be unheard or ignored."
US President Donald Trump said he called Trudeau "to pay my highest respect and condolences to the families of the terrible Humboldt Team tragedy."
"I grew up right there in Saskatoon," Babcock said. "I can't even imagine being a parent or the wife or the kids at home and going through something like this."
Former Detroit Red Wing player Sheldon Kennedy, who survived another junior hockey team bus crash in Saskatchewan in 1986, said: "You are losing your teammates and your friend. You are losing your son and I think those have long lasting impacts."
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