Fatal Holiday Weekend Crash in Welland

Accident has claimed three lives, two others injured.

Update: Monday, November 18, by Geoff Waterfield

An even more tragic update to this story for the family of a man who died in the pickup truck.

Donna Bowron reached out to our newsroom, telling us she's a friend of Rosemary Bastien, the mother of Joshua Michael Babiy, one of the people who died in the pickup truck.

Donna speaks of the horrific last 5 years her friend Rosemary has endured... the loss of her 3 children in that time.

Donna says Rosemary lost her son Joel, 28-years old in 2019, daughter Nicole, 40-years old in 2023, and now recently Joshua, 39-years old.  He leaves behind a 12-year old daughter, Taylor.

Rose now cares for her grandchildren from her daughter.

Donna tells us she can't understand how Rose will endure personally, as well as facing financial burdens as a results of these deaths.

There's a GoFundMe page set up to help Rose and her family.

Original Story:

A head-on collision has claimed the life of three people and has sent two others to hospital with minor and serious life-threatening injuries.

On Saturday around 10:21 p.m. OPP, the Welland Fire Department, Niagara EMS and Ornge responded to a motor vehicle collision involving a pickup truck and bus at a Highway 58 address in Welland.

It was determined that a pickup truck collided head-on with a Transit Bus.

As a result, the pickup truck rolled over and burst into flames. The driver and two passengers were pronounced deceased on scene. The driver of the bus was air-lifted to hospital with serious life-threatening injuries. Two passengers were also on the bus at the time of the crash. One of the passengers was taken to hospital to be treated for serious injuries, while the second passenger was released at the scene.

Cause of the accident remains under investigation.

Highway 58 is closed between Kleiner Street and Forks Road East. It's anticipated that the roadway will be closed for the next eight hours to allow for further investigation.  It’s expected to re-open sometime this afternoon.