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UVic students killed in Bamfield bus crash were from Winnipeg, Iowa City

Authorities said the two victims were a man and a woman, both aged 18
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Officials await the arrival of passengers, most of them students, who were on board a bus that crashed Sept. 13 near Bamfield on Sept. 14, 2019. (Teresa Bird/Alberni Valley News)

The BC Coroners Service and RCMP have released new information about the two people killed in a bus crash on Bamfield Road on Friday near Port Alberni.

The bus, carrying 48 people, most of them students from the University of Victoria, rolled over and went down an embankment near the Carmanah Main Junction on the gravel road, at around 10 p.m.

READ MORE: Two killed after bus crashes taking university students to Bamfield

Two people were declared dead at the scene. On Monday, the coroner and RCMP identified them as an 18-year-old woman from Winnipeg and an 18-year-old man from Iowa City, Iowa. Names were not released due to privacy.

Another three people were airlifted to Victoria General Hospital.

READ MORE: Bamfield Road safety concerns resurface after fatal bus crash

Police are continuing their own investigation, and are looking at what kind of role the driver of a second vehicle that was in the area at the time might have played.

The driver remained at the scene and provided assistance. Alcohol has been ruled out as a contributing factor.

READ MORE: UVic president offers condolences after two students killed in bus crash

The remaining passengers on the bus were treated at a reception area set up at a community centre in Port Alberni, before being bused back to Victoria.

The students had been on their way to the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.

READ MORE: Vancouver Island mayor details emergency response after fatal bus crash



karissa.gall@blackpress.ca

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