Following the death of three people in a fiery crash involving two Calgary Transit buses, a Calgary city councillor is hoping for a full external review of the incident.

During question period at Tuesday’s organizational meeting of Calgary city council, Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal asked city administration how they’ll handle the internal investigation.

Dhaliwal said many families are facing “unimaginable grief” as a result of the crash.

“I was able to reach the place where this accident happened; I saw firsthand how the community is affected,” he said.

“Today, my thoughts remain with the families who have lost loved ones, those recovering from their injuries, and everyone impacted.”

Three people died and 10 others were injured after a chain reaction crash that involved eight vehicles. Police said that a bus initially hit a vehicle, then continued through the intersection to hit another before hitting a second Calgary Transit bus, igniting the natural gas tanks on that bus.

Dhaliwal said that he has confidence in Calgary Transit, first responders and other dedicated professionals who keep Calgarians safe every day.

“With that confidence comes a responsibility to ensure transparency and accountability on behalf of Ward 5 residents, but more importantly Calgarians,” he said.

“As an elected official, it’s our responsibility to ensure their voices are heard and to rebuild their confidence in our city’s public transit system.”

He asked about the process for investigating the incident, who would lead it, whether the city would seek outside technical expertise, and how transparent it would be with the public.

Calgary police are continuing to investigate the crash. Earlier this week, they issued a plea to passengers on the buses who didn’t talk with police after the incident.

“It is imperative that we talk to everyone who may have information that could progress our investigation,” said Staff Sgt. Andy Woodward of the CPS Traffic Section.

“We believe that several passengers likely left the scene following the collision without knowing that investigators would like to hear their witness accounts.”

Calgary Transit awaiting Calgary police

City admin responded to Dhaliwal on Tuesday, saying they’re following Calgary police’s lead in their investigation.

“Once they’ve completed their investigation, we will then proceed with further operational investigations,” city admin responded.

“That will include any appropriate technical expertise to ensure that we have a thorough process as we work through that. Until then, we will continue to support the Calgary Police Service investigators in their work.”

They said they would commit to providing updates and information as they are able.

Outside council chambers on Tuesday, Dhaliwal said that the review needs to be multi-faceted – and not just centred on the bus collision.

“It’s also the design of that Saddletowne Circle. It’s the bus terminal. How it’s over capacity,” he said.

Dhaliwal suggested that a third-party external review should be done, looking into findings from CPS, the Calgary Fire Department and Calgary Transit, and then that review should be presented publicly to city council.

“We had a fricking independent panel review a pipeline burst when nobody died, and here we have lost three people,” he said.

“If there are any recommendations, they’ve got to be robust to make sure that this does not happen in the future.”

Early Wednesday, Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas said he supports the call for an independent inquiry.

“I fully support Councilor Dhaliwal in his call for an independent review, to first address questions that might exist around our bus fleet, but also the road design and engineering in Saddletown Circle,” Mayor Farkas said.

Ward 14 Coun. Landon Johnston also supported Dhaliwal’s effort. He said he’s already questioned the use of alternative fuel buses – whether that was electric-powered or natural gas.

“An independent review would hopefully put some light on it, but yeah, would this have happened with the diesel bus? I don’t know,” Johnston said.

If any review showed that natural gas buses are a greater safety hazard, Johnston said it would leave the city in a lurch if the buses had to be decommissioned.

“It’d be a tough decision for us as a council to cancel those bus contracts or to take them off the road or sell them. Like, yeah, it sucks,” he said.

“But, you know, a lot of people could have had foresight on the safety issues with having these types of vehicles in the name of climate.”