SANTO DOMINGO — One of the Canadians who were tragically killed in a bus crash in the Dominican Republic this past weekend has been identified and is being remembered as a “fearless” traveller.
As reported by CBC News, Colleen Fullerton, 67 from Lockport, MB, was one of two Canadians who were killed on a bus that crashed near Cumayasa, around 100 kilometres west of Punta Cana.
WestJet, which owns Sunwing Vacations, has confirmed that Sunwing guests were being transported from Punta Cana International Airport to their hotels by third-party provider NexusTours at the time of Sunday’s crash. Global Affairs Canada also confirmed the deaths of two Canadians and that 19 others were injured.
The identity of the other Canadian who died in the accident has not been confirmed.
According to Fullerton’s granddaughter, Brittany, she was an avid traveller who recently visited Scotland to learn more about her family heritage. Brittany also told CBC News that her grandfather, John Fullerton, 70, was also injured in the crash and is currently recovering in the hospital.
Brittany and her family have been in touch with her grandparents’ travel companions, however, they have been unable to speak to John.
“That’s the most frustrating thing about this,” she told CBC News. “He’s lost his wife. His travel companions are injured as well. He’s in a foreign place. He’s experiencing grief and loss and we can’t even be with him,” said Brittany.
Fullerton and her husband arrived in the Dominican Republic on Sunday morning, just hours before the accident, for a two-week vacation.
According to Brittany, it may take several weeks for Fullerton’s body to be transported home to Manitoba.
The couple’s daughter, Amanda Fullerton, is calling on Canadian consular officials to send a representative to the hospital where her father is being treated.
She says her family was left in the dark for hours after the crash, only learning from the RCMP on Monday afternoon that her mother had died, after she had already seen her mother’s name published in Dominican media reports.
Fullerton says the family has contacted a lawyer as they seek answers about the cause of the crash.
With file from The Canadian Press
Lead image caption: Colleen and John Fullerton of Lockport, MB are shown in this handout photo provided by their daughter Amanda Fullerton (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout-Amanda Fullerton)
