The tragic story of the Canadian Pacific Railway 'Prairie Steel Gang' bus crash in Saskatchewan in 1980 is a stark reminder of the dangers of highway travel and the importance of safety measures. This incident, which claimed the lives of 22 young men and left eight others injured, is often overshadowed by the more widely known Humboldt Broncos bus crash in 2018. However, it stands as the deadliest highway disaster in Saskatchewan history and the third worst in Canada. The crash occurred on a rainy afternoon when a group of 93 men, having completed a grueling shift fixing the tracks near Webb, boarded three leased school buses for the short trip back to their bunk cars. The second bus never made it, as a westbound car crossed into its path, slamming into the front and side of the bus and sending it rolling. A tanker truck carrying hot asphalt oil then struck the wreckage, tearing the bus roof away and igniting a fire and chaos. The scene was a harrowing sight, with hard hats and boots littering the highway and black smoke billowing a hundred meters into the sky. The aftermath was equally devastating, with a hockey rink in Swift Current turned into a temporary morgue, and the coroner relying on clothing, tattoos, wedding rings, and dental records to identify the victims. The misidentification of victims was a tragic consequence of the crash, with families left in the dark for weeks, only to discover that their loved ones had been mistakenly identified. The coroner's inquest revealed that all but one of the men died instantly or quickly from the impact of the accident, and not from burning, as initially feared. The jury recommended that all school-type buses be equipped with seat belts or other restraining devices, a recommendation that was not fully heeded until 2018, after the Humboldt Broncos crash. The driver of the car involved in the crash was also found to have been legally impaired, with a blood-alcohol level of .06 to .11, and the CPR foreman driving the bus had a blood-alcohol level of .04. The jury recommended stricter penalties for impaired driving and the twinning of the Trans-Canada Highway west of Swift Current to the Saskatchewan-Alberta border. The crash site near Webb has become a memorial, with a Canadian flag, a section of rail track, a welded steel cross, and a plaque naming the 30 men on the bus. Residents from Webb built the monument soon after the accident and have maintained it ever since. A similar memorial was erected in Rushoon, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 2010, to give families on the east coast a place to gather every year on the anniversary. The story of the 'Prairie Steel Gang' crash is a powerful reminder of the fragility of life and the importance of safety measures on our roads. It is a tale of loss, grief, and the resilience of those affected by this tragic event.
