In an exclusive interview with CTV News Ottawa, the former husband of the driver accused in the Westboro bus crash is speaking out.

“Every day it's in my mind,” said Blaince Berrouet.

“It was devastating, it was a tragedy.”

Berrouet, 49, says he was married to the accused, 42-year-old Aissatou Diallo, but the couple divorced in 2013.

“I didn’t know that same day, what really happened, I just heard about a terrible accident downtown,” said Berrouet.

“Someone texted me, watch the news, it’s your wife, then I said what do you mean, they said it's Aissatou Diallo.”

On Jan. 11, Diallo was behind the wheel of a double-decker bus on Route 269, when it collided with the overhang at Westboro Station. Three people were killed and dozens were injured.

Diallo has since been charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death and 35 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

Berrouet says Diallo was originally from the West African country of Guinea, and was on a work permit in Canada when they got married. With a young daughter, the family fought deportation in 2010, and won.

“She was my family, I have to fight for her,” said Berrouet.

“You would do the same thing for family, everyone.”

Despite the couple being divorced, Berrouet says since the crash, he’s been targeted with hate mail and threats.

“I’m the one who caused that, if it wasn’t for me, this never would have happened, go back to your country,” Berrouet said as he described some of the messages he says he received.

“I can’t take it, until now, I tell no one nothing, not even Ottawa Police.”

Berrouet has attended all of Diallo's scheduled court appearances.

“It’s hard, I feel like I need to be there to see her myself, how she’s going to do things - how she's going to answer,” said Berrouet.

“It's endless, it’s painful; I could have stayed home but something said, ‘no you can't do that, you have to go.’”

Diallo has yet to appear in person, but her lawyers have been designated to appear on her behalf.

Like families of the victims involved in the crash, Berrouet says he too is looking for answers, and is sorry for those families.

“If at the time this woman was their family, they would have fought until they had no breath left. So you do what you have to do,” Berrouet said in describing the fight against deportation.

“I’m not responsible for this, they need to understand that.”

None of the allegations against Diallo have been tested in court.

Diallo’s next court appearance is Nov. 26 at the Ottawa courthouse.