MONTREAL—Bus drivers arrived by the hundreds to attend a funeral for one of their colleagues, Sylvain Ferland.
The 23-year veteran of the Montreal Transit Corporation was killed almost a month ago in a collision.
A friend says Ferland's widow and his five children are still in shock.
"It's just such a tragic accident. It's something you just don't expect, to go to work and not go home," said Tommy Mouhteros.
The death struck a chord with drivers and passengers, according to the General Manager of the STM.
"We've gotten letters from customers and other employees about him, because he was always, always smiling," said Carl Desrosiers. "It hurts you, it gets personal."
The ceremony took place Tuesday afternoon at Saint-Jean-de-Matha church in Ville-Emard.
James Williams came to Montreal from Toronto for the funeral.
He works for the Toronto Transit Commission, and is shocked by the violence of the crash.
"Who would have thought a big bus could be thrown on its side? Things like that don't happen every day," said Williams.
Ferland was driving the 196 bus in Dorval on Aug. 14, heading up Lindsay Ave. near Pierre-Elliott-Trudeau International Airport toward the end of the evening rush hour.
At the intersection of 55th Avenue the bus and a passenger vehicle collided.
Ferland was ejected from the bus and died as it rolled over him.
The passenger in the vehicle, 61-year-old Janet Stoddard, was killed instantly in the collision. The driver, her 33-year-old daughter, was critically injured.
Police took a blood sample from the woman, suspecting that she could have been drunk behind the wheel.
Several people on the bus were also injured by the collision.
