Mainer loses 8 relatives in Canadian bus crash> Three cousins of Waterboro woman hospitalized

WATERBORO — When Anita Belanger saw the news about the Canadian bus crash Monday that killed 43 people she felt sad for the victims and their families.

Then she learned 11 of her relatives were on board, and eight were killed. “I can’t believe it. I’m devastated,” she said.

Three of her cousins remained in critical condition Wednesday. “It doesn’t look good,” she said. “I keep thinking of those who no longer have their sisters and brothers. There will be a lot of families without their parents.”

Her relatives in Canada had just spent the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday together. After the feast, they boarded a tour bus for a scenic foliage ride.

The bus hurtled out of control down a narrow mountain road and plunged off a dangerous curve, landing in a ravine 60 feet below. It was the deadliest crash on a Quebec highway in the last 30 years.

“It is such a freaky thing,” Belanger said. “The more I think of it, it is so crazy.”

All of her relatives were from the town of Saint-Bernard-sur-Mer, with 2,100 residents, about 18 miles south of Quebec City.

“We were so close,” Belanger said. “We visited each other every summer and their children came down to visit at other times. We always stayed in touch.”

When her father, who was from Canada, died at the age of 39, his extended family became very important to her, Belanger said. She grew up in the United States and for a while didn’t see much of them, but as an adult she re-established ties.

“They were so welcoming, so down-home. There was always a party there and plenty of food. They were warm, fun people to be with,” she said.

In the United States, the Canadian cousins leave behind Belanger and her brother from Saco, and relatives in New Hampshire.

Belanger will travel to Canada Thursday.