Two women waiting at a Winnipeg bus shelter escaped serious harm when a city transit bus slammed into the structure, shattering glass and cutting their hands.
Shocking Collision Downtown
The incident unfolded just after noon on Tuesday at the busy intersection of Portage Avenue and Fort Street. Audrey Paupanakis and her friend Karalee Linklater sat in the shelter awaiting a dentist appointment when the crash occurred.
“I turned around; all I heard was a big boom,” Paupanakis recounted. “I went forward and smashed against the other side of the bus shack.”
The bus clipped the glass panel behind them, struck their backs, and caused shards to rain down. “That’s when I looked back, and there’s a big bus right beside me, the whole transit bus,” Linklater said.
Stunningly, witnesses report the driver failed to stop and check on the injured women. “He didn’t even stop, he didn’t stop to come and check on us,” Paupanakis added during a return visit to the site the next day. “I don’t even want to look at it. I seen my life go before my eyes when this happened.”
Transit’s Response and Ongoing Probe
Winnipeg Transit received a reports the operator confirming contact with the shelter around 12:05 p.m. Initial accounts indicated no injuries, but a follow-up noted a woman struck by falling glass.
A transit inspector arrived at the scene, though the women had already departed for medical care. Officials continue an internal investigation into the matter.
A spokesperson for Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 declined comment while the probe remains active.
Treatment and Next Steps
Paupanakis and Linklater rushed to St. Boniface Hospital’s emergency room, where staff treated cuts on their hands from the broken glass. “When we got to the hospital she noticed that there was glass still in my hoodie. I still have glass particles on my jacket, I have to shake it off,” Paupanakis noted.
Linklater filed a police report the following day. Authorities advised submitting a claim to Manitoba Public Insurance, which she has now done.
The women urge transit riders to stay vigilant at shelters. “I wasn’t even paying attention,” Paupanakis admitted. “But now since that happened, I’ve got eyes behind my head.”
