British soldier killed in Canadian bus crash

A British soldier died in an accident involving a military bus in Canada, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has said.

RCMP Sgt Patrick Webb inspects the wreckage of the crashed bus

The bus rolled over in heavy rain on Highway 1 near the town of Bassano, Alberta, about 93 miles (150 km) south-east of Calgary.

Sixteen other British Army personnel on the bus have been released from hospital and were not seriously hurt. No other vehicles were involved in the accident which is being investigated by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

An MoD spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that 17 British service personnel travelling in a coach have been involved in a road traffic accident near Bassano in Canada. Sadly, we regret to inform that one UK soldier has died as a result of his injuries. No further information will be released until next of kin have been informed."

Freezing rain had been falling during the day and the roads were wet.

"Whether this was a factor in this collision still needs to be determined but it probably was," the RCMP's Sgt Patrick Webb said.

The injured were taken to several different hospitals by road. The RCMP's investigation is being supported by the Royal Military Police.

According to the AP news agency, the British soldiers were training at Canadian Forces Base Suffield in south-eastern Alberta. Suffield is the largest Commonwealth military training base; for decades it has been used by the British Army to train armoured battle groups.

UK Major Spencer Le Grand from the base said the bus was heading for an exercise at the time.

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