The 17-year-old girl killed in a bus crash near Rimbey, Alta., was a 'loveable girl' who dreamt of becoming a veterinarian, her uncle told CTV Edmonton Wednesday.
Jennifer Dawn Noble was killed Wednesday and another student was rushed to hospital with critical injuries after the school bus they were riding in was rear-ended by a gravel truck in Rimbey, Alta.
"Jenny was a happy, bubbly girl," her uncle Keith Kreil said. "She had lots of friends... she was going to (be a) veterinarian, she had talked about that for a long time."
Investigators said the bus was stopped on Highway 53 to pick up children around 8:15 a.m. near a railway crossing when a gravel truck struck a SUV sitting behind the bus, causing it to slam into the vehicle in front of it.
Kreil said she took the bus to school for most of her life.
"It's hard to talk at this time, but she was a very loveable, loveable girl," he said.
Noble died after being taken to hospital with unknown injuries. She was a Grade 12 student at Rimbey Junior/Senior High School.
A 14-year-old boy was also taken to Edmonton's Stollery Children's Hospital and remains in critical condition.
Some of the other children were treated by medical workers at the scene. The uninjured students were taken to a nearby farmhouse while police investigated.
Grade 7 student Desirae Schmalz said she was sitting four rows from the back when the truck hit the bus.
"All I could smell was smoke," she said. "The back of the bus was all torn off and people were missing. I just jumped off the bus. I was so scared."
Wolf Creek School Division superintendent Larry Jacobs said 12 students were on the bus. The vehicle was carrying students from three different schools including Rimbey High School, Rimbey Elementary and Rimbey West Country Outreach.
Rimbey is about 100 kilometres southwest of Edmonton.
Jacobs said he did not know the extent of injuries, but said he believes all of the elementary school children are safe.
STARS air ambulance was originally called to the scene, but was unable to fly due to weather conditions.
CTV Edmonton's Adam Kuzina said the back of the bus was ripped apart by the sheer force of the SUV hitting the rear of the vehicle.
Police say the area was foggy at the time. Investigators have since closed the road.
A spokesman from Five M Trucking said the driver of the gravel truck was a veteran with the company.
"He's shook up pretty good," John Meinema said. "He's cut and bruised like all the people involved and he's taking it really hard."
The Canadian Press reports a witness heard screaming from someone underneath the truck.
Jacobs said the board has contacted all the parents and a team of counsellors are at all of the school sites ready to help with any questions or grief issues.
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