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GoFundMe for victims of Canadian hockey team bus crash reaches second-highest in history
A fundraising campaign for the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team has broken a record as the world mourns their their loss. (KYMBER RAE/AFP/Getty Images)

GoFundMe for victims of Canadian hockey team bus crash reaches second-highest in history

On April 6, a bus carrying the Humboldt Broncos junior hockey team collided with a semi-truck in Saskatchewan, Canada, resulting in the deaths of 16 people —  nearly all of them players on the team comprised of young men aged 16-21.

More than a dozen more were injured in the crash; two remain in critical condition.

Almost immediately after the accident, a GoFundMe was set up to help victims and families of the tragedy. The plea originally set a goal of $5,000; but as of midnight on Wednesday, the fund had surpassed $15 million.

Over 140,000 people hailing from more than 80 countries contributed to the cause. International attention was brought to the tragedy as world leaders, hockey organizations, and a collective of heartbroken members of humanity mourned the loss of the young men.

The campaign actually broke the record for the highest number of individual donors in any GoFundMe initiative to date.

In reaction to the outpouring of support, the team's president, Kevin Garinger wrote on the team's website: "The Broncos have been humbled, and our spirits buoyed, by the staggering number of individuals and groups wanting to make donations, or holding fundraisers to support our organization, as we deal with this unprecedented crisis."

Funds from the campaign will now be managed and distributed by a newly-formed non-profit called the "Humboldt Broncos Memorial Fund."

Contributions can still be made directly through a credit union account, since the GoFundMe page is no longer accepting donations.

According to CNN, the only GoFundMe account that has raised more in a single campaign on the site is the Time's Up Legal Defense Fund.

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