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The Crown prosecutor's office is now reviewing the police investigation into the Bathurst van crash that killed eight people on Jan. 12 to determine if charges should be laid.

"We forwarded the file to the Crown for review," says District 9 RCMP Sgt. Scott Sawyer. "I imagine with the length of the file, it will take them some time to review it.

"When the Crown is done reviewing it, I'm sure they'll contact us and at that time we'll be having a meeting and go from there."

Sawyer said he couldn't "jump the gun" and speculate on whether or not charges would be laid in connection to the crash and who they might be laid against.

"I'm not really able to comment on that at this point," says the sergeant. Sawyer says the police have done all they can up to this point, but there could always be further investigation, based on future consultations with the Crown.

The crash occurred when the coach of the Bathurst High School basketball team was driving the team back from a game in Moncton. The roads were wet and slushy and the 15-passenger van left its lane and collided head-on with a transport truck.

Seven students were killed, along with the coach's wife. The coach and three other students survived.

At a news conference in late July, the RCMP said six of the eight people who died were not wearing their seat-belts and the investigation would look at who was responsible for making sure students wore their belts. It was noted by one Mountie that the Motor Vehicle Act states drivers of vehicles are responsible for ensuring everyone under the age of 16 in a vehicle is wearing a seat-belt. One of the crash victims was 15.

Police also said they were looking into who was responsible for the maintenance of the 11-year-old vehicle and the fact the van had passed a safety inspection three months earlier, when it wouldn't have passed on the day of the crash.