Police say icy road conditions may have been a factor in a fatal crash on the Trans-Canada that killed one person on Thursday morning.
At 10:15 a.m., emergency crews were called to the crash at Highway 68 and closed all lanes of traffic in both directions for the investigation.
EMS confirms one person died as a result of the crash and another was taken to hospital by STARS air ambulance.
EMS spokesman Adam Loria said paramedics were called to a minor crash with no injuries and were writing up some paperwork in the ambulance when they witnessed a vehicle in the opposite direction spin out of control, flip a number of times and head into the ditch.
A female passenger in her seventies was ejected from the vehicle and pronounced dead on the scene.
Another paramedic rushed to the driver and found him to be semi-conscious in the driver’s seat.
“The paramedic was trying to assess him through the driver’s window when that patient went into a state of unconsciousness and somehow pressed the accelerator of the vehicle,” said Loria.
With the vehicle in drive, it started to move through the ditch and into oncoming traffic.
Loria said the paramedic, still half-inside the vehicle, tried to put the car in park or hit the emergency brake but could not.
“It was getting a little too dangerous so after a number of metres he had to jump off the vehicle,” said Loria.
The vehicle then hit a Sheriff’s van that was returning from court in Canmore.
There were two sheriffs in the vehicle at the time and no inmates.
Alberta Justice spokeswoman Michelle Davio said the officers were hit head-on.
“There was an ambulance and a vehicle in the ditch. The sheriffs were slowing down for that and then there was a collision after that that involved the sheriffs,” she said.
One sheriff was assessed at the scene and the other was taken by ground ambulance to hospital.
“It was a very scary incident that could have gone that much worse,” said Loria.
Loria said both males in their thirties in the sheriff’s van were in stable condition.
RCMP say road conditions appear to be a factor in the collision and are still investigating the incident.
The westbound lanes have been reopened but the eastbound lanes remain closed.
STARS transported a 72-year-old man to the Foothills Medical Centre in stable condition with non life-threatening injuries.
Read more:
http://www.calgaryherald.com/Paramed...#ixzz2GHuH9RtB
Highay 68 closed eastbound **UPDATE**
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