Alcohol believed to be factor after deadly rollover on TransCanada
Posted Apr 20, 2016 10:47 am.
Last Updated Apr 21, 2016 6:18 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Two people are dead after a single-vehicle crash on Highway 1 west of Calgary Wednesday morning and it’s believed that alcohol was a factor.
Stuart Brideaux with Alberta Health Services said paramedics got the call around 9 a.m. Wednesday.
“EMS from Nakoda, Cochrane, Calgary, along with RCMP and fire responded to reports of a single-vehicle rollover along the eastbound lanes of Highway 1, just by the weigh scales, west of Hermitage Road,” Brideaux said.
A total of seven people were inside the van when it rolled, and five of them were ejected.
The Cochrane RCMP says it doesn’t appear any seatbelts were worn.
Two were declared dead at the scene.
The five others were taken to hospital, with one airlifted out by STARS.
EMS provided an update on the people involved, saying four women and one man, all adults, were sent to area hospitals:
“There was a total of seven adults inside the van at the time of the rollover. Different witness accounts describe that it had rolled multiple times. EMS quickly identified, unfortunately, that two adults were deceased at the scene,” Brideaux added.
The driver and front-seat passenger had to be cut free from the wreckage.
Andrew takes the route daily and told 660 NEWS what he saw.
“The vehicle is in the grassy bit between the median and the old weigh station. They have traffic detouring through the old weigh station parking lot to get around that incident. [There are] lots of people sitting on the side, speaking to police officers. I don’t know if they witnessed it, but they are interviewing a lot of people.”
The eastbound lanes had to be closed as the traffic reconstruction team investigated.
“We believe alcohol is a factor in the collision at this time. Our collision reconstruction analyst is presently on scene, conducting an investigation as well our Criminal Collision Investigative Team (CCIT) is assisting in the investigation since there is fatalities and alcohol involved,” Sgt. Jeff Campbell said.
