Tragedy in lake

Press, 7 August 1978, Page 1

Tragedy in lake

NZPA Eastman (Quebec) Picnicking sightseers gathered for the raising of an ageing bus carrying handicapped passengers which lost its brakes on a steep road, plunged into a lake and took 41 of the 48 people aboard to an agonisingly slow death. “The people in the bus were screaming,” said a witness, Mr Norman Carpentier. “They called, ‘lt’s so cold. It’s so cold. We want help’.” Mr Carpentier, a piano player at the nearby Lac d’Argent Hotel, estimated it took 39 minutes for the bus to sink. Others said it took 15 minutes. It was the worst bus disaster in Canadian history. The previous worst was a 1966 bus-train crash that killed 23 Montreal school children. The bus, which a police

spokesman said was believed to be more than 20 years old, apparently hit Lac d’Argent on Friday night about 70 km/h and skimmed along the water for 150 m. The vehicle settled on the bottom mud under 18m of water, the police said, taking with it the bodies of 41 victims, including a priest, two nuns, and several people in wheelchairs. Hundreds of people flocked to Eastman to take pictures and wait for divers to lift the bus and its grim cargo. A huge traffic jam tied up the village’s main street and people strolled the pavements in groups, laughing, talking and eating sandwiches and ice creams almost as though they were at a carnival. Motorists, turned back by the police on the road

leading to the site of Friday night’s disaster, parked their cars on lawns and went on foot to the shore. Dozens of people stood on a railway bank overlooking the lake, many peering through binoculars. Hundreds more lined the shores, snapping cameras or stretching out for a rest. Motor boats, rafts and sailboats stood watch only a few metres from the spot where the bus sank, waiting for the recovery to begin.

The police brought in dozens of yellow plastic bags for the bodies.

Local shopkeepers took advantage of the influx of visitors to make a little extra money. A reporter at the lakeside Lac d’Argent Hotel said he had to pay twice the advertised amount for a sandwich. "I asked why and the waiter shrugged,” he said.