Laval daycare bus crash

At a glance

Dates: From 2023.

Place: Canada.

Type: occurrence.

What happened

Incident On the morning of Wednesday, February 8, 2023, parents were dropping off their children at the Garderie Éducative de Sainte-Rose daycare on Terrasse Dufferin, a cul-de-sac in the Sainte-Rose district of Laval . Buses for the Société de Transport de Laval operate regularly on this road, turning around in the roundabout at the end of the road and stopping near the daycare. [ 1 ] At around 8:30 am EST , witnesses reported hearing a bus operated by driver Pierre Ny St-Amand rev its engine.

Aftermath Uninjured children were taken to a nearby elementary school where police and daycare workers calmed the children. Panicked parents that showed up at the blocked-off crash site were directed towards the school and had to wait two hours as identities were confirmed. Parents of injured children were taken out of the room and informed of their children's status, and the remaining parents told their children were safe. [ 1 ] By the evening,

Response The day after the crash, Quebec minister of social services Lionel Carmant announced that the driver was not on waiting lists for mental health services. Several legal experts questioned the legality of the Minister accessing and publicizing private health records. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The incident was one of several violent tragedies in Quebec involving mental health issues that prompted Canadian legal and mental health experts to warn of the media stigmatizing those with mental health problems.

On February 8, 2023, bus driver Pierre Ny St-Amand deliberately crashed Société de transport de Laval (STL) bus into a daycare in Laval, Quebec, Canada, killing two children and injuring six others. St-Amand was quickly subdued by bystanders and arrested. Trauma support was provided to affected families and residents. Quebec Premier François Legault and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited the area to pay respects in the days following the incident.