Canadian singer Shania Twain, one of the most successful crossover artists of the '90s, a style icon, and a still-active legend on the music stage, is back to touring. Sadly, her recent tour hit a snag after one of her tour buses crashed on the highway in Canada in between tour stops.
The accident occurred on the Trans-Canada highway between Winnipeg and Wolseley, with first responders finding the bus on its side when they arrived at the scene. All signs point to the fact that the bus rolled over, and bad weather is blamed for it.
The good news is that no one suffered severe injuries, and this silver lining is even brighter if you consider the fact that the bus was a sleeper double-decker. The bus was a rental from Florida-based Beat The Street USA, a company that rents buses for tours of all kinds, including for musicians.
Shania finished off the U.S. leg of her Queen of Me tour just recently and kicked off the Canadian one.
The company has already confirmed that the bus was from their fleet and said they were working with authorities in the investigation. Footage from the scene shows it was a Van Hoof double-decker sleeper model that comes with 16 bunks, a kitchen, a lounge, and a bathroom, which makes it ideal for transporting crewmembers.
Photo: YouTube/CBCSaskatchewan
A manager for the singer has confirmed the accident but said that she wasn't on the bus when it happened.
Not that this should come as a surprise: an entertainer of Twain's caliber usually gets her own bus, assuming she doesn't travel directly by private jet to save time and avoid exhaustion. However, most of her crew, including backup singers and dancers, the band, and stage people who are part of the permanent team, will still get from one location to the other by bus.
According to Dwayne Stone, fire chief from Grenfell and one of the first to arrive at the scene, the bus may have skidded on black ice and rolled into a ditch. That's when "the wheels caught the ground and rolled," he tells the local media. It rained heavily in the area before it started snowing, so black ice must have played a part in what happened.
Most passengers on the bus were sleeping or in their beds at the time of the accident. They were also trapped inside the bus by the debris that started flying around, so first responders had to make their way inside and remove the debris to get them out.
No word yet on how many passengers were on the bus, but reports say that 13 were taken to nearby hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries ranging from broken bones to concussions. Two have since been moved to other hospitals, and the rest were discharged.
A truck also went off the road and crashed near the tour bus.
Elena has been writing for a living since 2006 and, as a journalist, she has put her double major in English and Spanish to good use. She covers automotive and mobility topics like cars and bicycles, and she always knows the shows worth watching on Netflix and friends. Full profile
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