Executive Director Communications for Ministry of Justice Drew Wilby says they were made aware of an error late last night (sun) in the identification of two of the individuals involved in the Humboldt Broncos team bus crash.
Wilby says the coroner’s office mistook the body of 18-year-old goalie Parker Tobin for that of Xavier Labelle. Labelle is injured but alive, and Tobin is among the 15 people who died when the bus carrying the junior hockey team collided with a semi truck on Friday.
Wilby says he can’t even imagine putting himself in those families shoes.
“First get the notice that their loved ones have been in a collision of this nature, and then to find out that who they had thought was their loved one wasn’t potentially, actually their loved one. I can’t even fathom and I don’t think enough could ever be said. All I can do is offer our sincerest apologies.”
He also says they are confident in the identities of all the other victims.
Wilby says it is a lot of work to identify the victims based on the unprecedented number as well as the level of trauma involved. He pointed out the boys were all athletic, many with similar builds and all had blond hair after getting it dyed as a show of team solidarity prior to the playoffs.
The RCMP and the Office of the Chief Coroner issued an updated list of those deceased in the Friday crash:
Players
Adam Herold – 16-year-old from Montmartre, SK
Connor Lukan – 21-year-old from Slave Lake, AB
Evan Thomas – 18-year-old from Saskatoon, SK
Jacob Leicht – 19-year-old from Humboldt, SK
Jaxon Joseph – 20-year-old from Edmonton, AB
Logan Boulet – 21-year-old from Lethbridge, AB
Logan Hunter – 18-year-old from St. Albert, AB
Logan Schatz – 20-year-old from Allan, SK
Stephen Wack – 21-year-old from St. Albert, AB
Parker Tobin – 18-year-old from Stoney Plain, AB
Team Personnel
Brody Hinz – 18-year-old from Humboldt, SK
Darcy Haugan – 42-year-old from Humboldt, SK
Glen Doerksen – 59-year-old from Carrot River, SK
Mark Cross – 27-year-old from Strasbourg, SK
Tyler Bieber – 29-year-old from Humboldt, SK
The Coroners Office and the RCMP want to extend their deepest sympathies to the families and friends of those who lost their lives as well as those who were involved in the collision.
