Student survivor of deadly Bamfield bus crash recalls passengers' screams

One of the 48people aboard the bus that crashed into a ravine Friday night on its way to Bamfield said the vehicle filled with screams as it began to tip.

The bus had been travelling along agravel road when it ended up in a ravine on its side, killing two people on board and injuring others.

AJ Wasserman, one of the 45 UVic students aboard the bus for a field trip to the marine science centre, spoke to journalists Sunday over social media.

The undergraduate student was in the back of the bus when it happened.

• 2 UVic students dead, 1 still in hospital after bus rollover near Port Alberni, B.C.

"I saw headlights and felt us swerve to avoid them," Wasserman wrote. "Thought we were just going to move back but then instead we just started tipping and everything just started happening in slow motion."

'The scariest scream I have ever heard'

Wasserman felt thebus sliding and then heard screams.

"The scariest scream I have ever heard."

Wasserman was on the side of the bus that ended upon the ground and said most people tumbled to that sideas the bus cameto a stop.

Wasserman estimated that two people were wearing seatbelts and recalls seeing themhanging in the air asthe bus lay on its side.

Chief Councillor Robert Dennis, with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, came across the crash site about 30 minutes after it happened.

Dennis said the bus was on its side andnearly 10 metres down an embankment when he arrived. He said students were pulling themselves up to the road with a rope.

When firefighters arrived they continued to help get passengers out of the bus.

The 48 people aboard the bus included two teaching assistants and the driver.

The gravel road from Port Alberni to Bamfieldcan be perilous, but Wasserman saidthe bus didn't seem to be travelling much faster than 40 km/h.

• Vancouver Island road where bus rolled has been object of safety complaints for years, say local leaders

Wasserman also said that the bus left Victoria late due to traffic.The cause of the crash is under investigation by Transport Canada and the RCMP.

The University of Victoria opened counselling services for students seeking helpon Sunday.

• UVic opens counselling services after deadly bus crash kills 2 students