Ruby Princess passengers among those in tour accident in Skagway

[karatemom2]

We are on the Ruby right now in Skagway and were behind a terrible tour bus accident involving a Chilkoot Charters bus on the Yukon Highway today. We were delayed at a full stop on the road for about two hours, about 15 cars back in what ended up being a very long line of cars and buses stopped while first responders rendered aid. Three ambulances and a helicopter were called to the scene. We found out upon returning to the ship that fellow Princess passengers were involved - I think something like 9 medically evacuated and 10 family members disembarked with assistance of Princess if I understood correctly. It’s just awful - a worst nightmare scenario for these poor people. We have toured with Chilkoot Charters twice on previous trips and they were wonderful. My heart is broken for all involved. Hoping that everyone pulls through and makes a full recovery. 

[Prometheus1]

That's awful! Hoping those that were hurt make a full recovery.

[startedwithamouse]

5 minutes ago, karatemom2 said:

We are on the Ruby right now in Skagway and were behind a terrible tour bus accident involving a Chilkoot Charters bus on the Yukon Highway today. We were delayed at a full stop on the road for about two hours, about 15 cars back in what ended up being a very long line of cars and buses stopped while first responders rendered aid. Three ambulances and a helicopter were called to the scene. We found out upon returning to the ship that fellow Princess passengers were involved - I think something like 9 medically evacuated and 10 family members disembarked with assistance of Princess if I understood correctly. It’s just awful - a worst nightmare scenario for these poor people. We have toured with Chilkoot Charters twice on previous trips and they were wonderful. My heart is broken for all involved. Hoping that everyone pulls through and makes a full recovery. 

It definitely makes for a somber cruise. We were onboard Royal Princess in May 2019 when two Ketchikan flightseeing collided. They contained guests from our ship. Princess dispatched their care team to stay with family members and we left port several hours late. 

[karatemom2]

3 minutes ago, startedwithamouse said:

It definitely makes for a somber cruise. We were onboard Royal Princess in May 2019 when two Ketchikan flightseeing collided. They contained guests from our ship. Princess dispatched their care team to stay with family members and we left port several hours late. 

Yes, sadly Princess has experience dealing with these situations. This is the only report I can find so far. 
 

https://khns.org/tour-bus-accident-on-klondike-highway-causes-injuries-delays-race

[oregonN]

OMG

[moodyb1]

1 hour ago, karatemom2 said:

We are on the Ruby right now in Skagway and were behind a terrible tour bus accident involving a Chilkoot Charters bus on the Yukon Highway today. We were delayed at a full stop on the road for about two hours, about 15 cars back in what ended up being a very long line of cars and buses stopped while first responders rendered aid. Three ambulances and a helicopter were called to the scene. We found out upon returning to the ship that fellow Princess passengers were involved - I think something like 9 medically evacuated and 10 family members disembarked with assistance of Princess if I understood correctly. It’s just awful - a worst nightmare scenario for these poor people. We have toured with Chilkoot Charters twice on previous trips and they were wonderful. My heart is broken for all involved. Hoping that everyone pulls through and makes a full recovery. 

We hope everyone recovers.

We are on a NCL ship today in Alaska and saw a Princess ship sailing parallel to us. Suddenly, a military plane appeared and began flying low and circling the ship. Eventually, the Princess ship turned around as if returning to the port it came from. The ship was too far away for us to read it's name, but we could identify as a Princess ship. Was this your ship?

Arlene 

[mtnesterz]

7 hours ago, moodyb1 said:

We hope everyone recovers.

We are on a NCL ship today in Alaska and saw a Princess ship sailing parallel to us. Suddenly, a military plane appeared and began flying low and circling the ship. Eventually, the Princess ship turned around as if returning to the port it came from. The ship was too far away for us to read it's name, but we could identify as a Princess ship. Was this your ship?

Arlene 

For times like these, when I want to know the name of a nearby ship, I like Cruisemapper. If you are on the Jewel, then the only Princess ship near you yesterday was the Ruby.

[PacnGoNow]

9 hours ago, karatemom2 said:

Yes, sadly Princess has experience dealing with these situations. This is the only report I can find so far. 
 

https://khns.org/tour-bus-accident-on-klondike-highway-causes-injuries-delays-race

So, they take them to Canadian hospitals?  Wonder which is closer or it’s Canada’s call.

 

Prayers that they all recover quickly.

 

[eclue]

Terrible news - so tragic. We have taken Chilkoot Charters tours on several occasions and have always found them to be safe and reliable. Hopefully all involved are well.

[Mjkny]

Terrible news so sorry to hear hope all are ok

[puppycanducruise]

Prayers for everyone involved.  I hope they make a full recovery.

[cr8tiv1]

Was this a Princess excursion?  Wishing all involved and family members a speedy return home.

[moodyb1]

3 hours ago, mtnesterz said:

For times like these, when I want to know the name of a nearby ship, I like Cruisemapper. If you are on the Jewel, then the only Princess ship near you yesterday was the Ruby.

We were on the NCL Bliss.

[BlerkOne]

Statement from the Office of the Fire Chief Emily Rauscher:

At approximately 1456 Engine 4 responded to a Motor Vehicle Accident of a 25-passenger tour bus that was reported off the road on the Klondike Highway. Medic 32 responded shortly afterwards. The accident location was south of the previous land slide at kilometer 52. The location of this event is approximately 35 minutes out of town.

The reporting party was Holland America Princess (HAP). While waiting for response units to arrive to this remote location with no cell phone coverage and limited radio communications, 2 of the HAP motorcoaches decided to provide aid to the 25-passenger bus involved in the accident and communicate information to Skagway’s Fire base during this mass casualty. There were medical personnel onboard the HAP motorcoach that started triage of the patients. There were 25 passengers onboard this bus and all 25 passengers were accounted for. While on-scene Yukon EMS held Incident Command and worked seamlessly with Skagway Fire Department. All of Skagway Fire’s units were back in service at 1730.

During this extended call, four of our volunteers came into the station for standby to provide coverage to the town in case of additional page outs. Additionally, one of our volunteers, Sarina Jones was integral in obtaining critical patient information from HAP drivers on location before any units arrived.

Since many visitors travel to Skagway for the Klondike Road Relay, there were medical personnel from Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Emergency Room that aided in further treatment of the patients transported to Skagway’s Clinic.

Skagway Fire would like to thank the two Holland America Princess motor coaches for being the true first responders to this accident and acting without hesitation. We would like to thank our volunteers that covered the town for additional page outs and the medical personnel from out of town that provided their services here in Skagway. Finally, our amazing neighbors in the Yukon, from Carcross and Yukon EMS... we are grateful for your partnership.

The Public Information Officer for this call is Manager Brad Ryan.

[karatemom2]

23 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

Was this a Princess excursion?  Wishing all involved and family members a speedy return home.

No, it was a private excursion with a very well known vendor that many cruisers use in Skagway. 

[startedwithamouse]

3 hours ago, PacnGoNow said:

So, they take them to Canadian hospitals?  Wonder which is closer or it’s Canada’s call.

 

Prayers that they all recover quickly.

 

They'll take them to different hospitals. The collision on our cruise, the guests who needed the most care went to a trauma center Seattle. 

Edited September 7 by startedwithamouse

[karatemom2]

25 minutes ago, moodyb1 said:

We were on the NCL Bliss.

We are not traveling near the Bliss - the NCL Jewel was in port with us. 

[azbirdmom]

37 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Statement from the Office of the Fire Chief Emily Rauscher:

At approximately 1456 Engine 4 responded to a Motor Vehicle Accident of a 25-passenger tour bus that was reported off the road on the Klondike Highway. Medic 32 responded shortly afterwards. The accident location was south of the previous land slide at kilometer 52. The location of this event is approximately 35 minutes out of town.

The reporting party was Holland America Princess (HAP). While waiting for response units to arrive to this remote location with no cell phone coverage and limited radio communications, 2 of the HAP motorcoaches decided to provide aid to the 25-passenger bus involved in the accident and communicate information to Skagway’s Fire base during this mass casualty. There were medical personnel onboard the HAP motorcoach that started triage of the patients. There were 25 passengers onboard this bus and all 25 passengers were accounted for. While on-scene Yukon EMS held Incident Command and worked seamlessly with Skagway Fire Department. All of Skagway Fire’s units were back in service at 1730.

During this extended call, four of our volunteers came into the station for standby to provide coverage to the town in case of additional page outs. Additionally, one of our volunteers, Sarina Jones was integral in obtaining critical patient information from HAP drivers on location before any units arrived.

Since many visitors travel to Skagway for the Klondike Road Relay, there were medical personnel from Bartlett Regional Hospital’s Emergency Room that aided in further treatment of the patients transported to Skagway’s Clinic.

Skagway Fire would like to thank the two Holland America Princess motor coaches for being the true first responders to this accident and acting without hesitation. We would like to thank our volunteers that covered the town for additional page outs and the medical personnel from out of town that provided their services here in Skagway. Finally, our amazing neighbors in the Yukon, from Carcross and Yukon EMS... we are grateful for your partnership.

The Public Information Officer for this call is Manager Brad Ryan.

It is nice to hear that fellow passengers provided aid.  Prayers for those who were injured.

[wolfie11]

Officials reported one passenger was airlifted to Whitehorse Hospital in serious condition but no one else was seriously injured.

[RNRcruisers]

Wow, that sounds scary!

[EDVM96]

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/south-klondike-highway-crash-1.7316873

 

 

[Steelers36]

56 minutes ago, EDVM96 said:

 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/south-klondike-highway-crash-1.7316873

 

 

Oh my!  Not a good scene.  Thankfully, doesn't look like a real steep area.  

[karatemom2]

6 hours ago, Steelers36 said:

Oh my!  Not a good scene.  Thankfully, doesn't look like a real steep area.  

Yes, it was a scary sight, but a few more miles down the road as you go through the pass with all the steep curves - it could have been much, much worse. It was solid fog through that area coming up to the border - terrible visibility with those steep drop offs. It appears the driver may have had a medical emergency that preceded the crash. A little further along they could have gone right off the cliff in heavy fog where no one could have even seen them. They are actually very lucky it happened where it did. So glad it appears everyone will be ok. 

[karatemom2]

A couple of updated news reports since the event:

 

https://khns.org/bus-crash-injures-tourists-delays-klondike-relay