The ceremony marked the one-year anniversary of a kindergarten bus crash in Quebec that killed two children

LAVAL — Two white balloons flew into the sky Thursday as a community north of Montreal gathered to remember two young children who were killed a year ago when a bus plowed into a Montreal-area kindergarten.

Kindergarten staff and families gathered in a park near Garderie Éducation Ste-Rose in Laval, which became the scene of tragedy when a city bus veered off the street and roared down the kindergarten's driveway as it unloaded its morning load. period.

In a short ceremony that included a minute of silence, families held up white flowers and hugged each other. Cries were heard as the balloons flew into the blue sky and out of sight after being released by two nursery staff.

Father of two Andre Beaudoin, who helped pull the children out from under the bus on the morning of the crash, said he would help the families of the victims in their grieving process.

She said that on February 8, 2023, while unfastening her son's seat belt, she looked up and saw a bus pass her in the parking lot.

“I heard the engine of the bus, and when I looked up, a bus was passing in front of me. “You never imagine something like this can happen.”

Beaudoin remembers racing inside the nursery, leaving her son safe in the car. There, he tried to get the children safely out from under the bus, he said, while another father helped subdue the enraged bus driver.

Five-year-old Maeva David and four-year-old Jacob Gauthier died in the crash, and six other children were hospitalized.

“It was the hardest day of my life and it always sticks in your head,” Beaudoin said, adding that he's trying to stay positive.

Pierre Neu Saint-Amand, a former city bus driver, is charged with two counts of first-degree murder, as well as seven other charges, including attempted murder and aggravated assault. A preliminary hearing is set for March, and New St. Amand's attorney said he plans to argue that the 52-year-old lacked the criminal intent necessary for first-degree murder.

Investigators have not yet released a motive for the alleged attack. New St. Amand had no previous disciplinary problems or criminal record.

Beaudoin said he's trying to get more information about the events, “but it's not over yet because there's a lot we don't know.”

Thursday's open-air ceremony was followed by a private indoor event attended by parents and relatives of the victims. Beaudoin and others who helped at the scene also received awards for their bravery.

Christopher Skeete, a member of the region's legislature, says the disaster has marked Quebecers, especially parents.

“Everybody thinks that when they drop their child off at daycare, they're going to be there when they come home,” she said. “It didn't happen a year ago.” According to him, the idea of ​​launching balloons came from kindergarten, which represented the loss of two children.

In Quebec City, Prime Minister Francois Legot said his thoughts are with parents, kindergarten workers and first responders affected by the tragedy. “I don't think there's anything worse for a parent than losing a child, especially when it happens,” he said.

The kindergarten asked people not to leave flowers or stuffed animals outside the building, but to donate to the foundations of the hospitals that treated the victims, the Cite de la Santé in Laval and the Sainte-Justine Children's Hospital in Montreal.

Nursery owner Nancy Gschwender did not speak publicly, but released a statement thanking her and her team for their support.

“Despite these difficult moments, we will continue our journey, shining the light of our little butterflies that we will never forget,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on February 8, 2024.

Morgan Lowry, Canadian Press