Church services offer Dauphin community members chance to pray for loved ones

Local churches offered an opportunity for the people of Dauphin, Man., to pray and grieve together Sunday morning, as the community mourns the victims of a deadly bus crash that killed 15 people and sent 10 others to hospital.

Religious leaders urged their congregations to show compassion as Dauphin, a cityof about8,000 people several hundred kilometres northwest of Winnipeg, endures a period of great sorrow.

"Our feelings are, sometimes, underneath a little bit, and then they come forward and that's ok," said Michel Nault, pastor of St. Viator's Roman Catholic Church, which was one of the churches that dedicated part of their weekly Sunday service to Thursday's crash.

"The feelings, the tears they're not signs of weakness. Not at all, quite the opposite. They're the signs of love and that we share a common humanity."

RCMP continue to investigate Thursday's collision between a transport truck and a Quality Care Transitminibus.

The minibus was carrying seniors from the Dauphin area to the Sand Hills Casinonear Carberry, Man., about 150 kilometres south. Police say the minibus was crossing an intersection when it was hit by a transport truck, which was travelling eastbound on the Trans-Canada Highway.

As of Friday, investigators had not yet spoken with the driver of the bus, who remained in hospital along with the nine other survivors. Shared Health said in a statement Sunday that their conditions remained the same.

"This is just so hard to handle," said Dauphin resident Manuel Nakonechny, adding that the crash is hard to comprehend.

Nakonechny knows most of the seniors who were onthe bus at the time, he said. He has also known the driver for years, as they liveacross the street from eachanother and both workfor the bus company.

Nakonechny is trying to find distractions and surround himself with other people. But he described the situation as an inescapable nightmare.

"There's just no getting away from it," he said.

While speaking with CBC News, Nakonechny was joined by Bettsy Herman and Jessie Brezden. They had attended the service at the Ukrainian Catholic Church, where some of the people on the bus were from the choir and congregation. One of the victims is the godmother to Brezden's daughter.

"We're a family and we're there to be with the people who need our prayers and our blessings," Herman said.

Coming together for healing

On Sunday, St.George's Ukrainian Orthodox Church prayed for those who died, their families and emergency workers, as well as the community as a whole.

Churchgoers lit candles and sang hymns. One woman wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue.

The first names of those who were on the bus were also read out.

Father Brent Kuzyk said he spent the last few days at seniors complexes praying with people, some of whom lived with the victims.

"Simply being able to verbalize whatever they're feeling always helps," Kuzyk said. "Since it's such a small community, everyone knew someone on that bus or even had relatives on the bus."

Coming together, praying for those who died, then burying them is part of the healing process, he said.

"When we begin to heal, we gain strength, we begin to understand and then we get to prepare our lives for the next step."

Before the service at St. Paul's Anglican Church started, Deacon Frances Stewart said she would offer a moment of silence for those who died.

Now is a time to offer comfort and be compassionate as people grieve, she said.

"As Christians, we have this wonderful hope, this wonderful promise of the life to come. But at this stage, the important thing is to just get through the first few days and then to be there for the months and years to come," Stewart said.