‘Deep sense of loss:’ Friends support Alberta farm family after 3 girls die
Posted Oct 14, 2015 9:12 am.
Last Updated Oct 14, 2015 12:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WITHROW, Alta. – Relatives and friends are trying to console a central Alberta farm family following the deaths of three girls in a grain-loading accident.
RCMP say two of the girls suffocated in a truckload of canola seed near Withrow on Tuesday night and a third died later in hospital.
Pastor Brian Allan of the Withrow Gospel Mission said people in the tiny community quickly went to the farm to help the parents and their son.
“They are obviously devastated,” Allan said Wednesday. “There is just a deep sense of loss and sadness.”
EMS officials said ambulance personnel determined the girls had been inside the truck while it was being filled from a hopper, but it was unclear how they became submerged underneath the seed.
They were pulled out by adults, who called for help, but despite the efforts of emergency workers, an 11-year-old and a 13-year-old died.
Another 11-year-old girl was transported via air ambulance in critical condition to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton and later died.
RCMP said life-saving measures were attempted at length by personnel from several community fire departments, the ambulance service and RCMP members.
Allan said the parents and children have been strong members of the church and have lived in the area for years.
“We are going to be spending time with them. I know that there are guys down there working around the farm right now, cleaning things up and just trying to get things back to some sense to normal,” he said.
“We feel the impact of this loss in a substantial way.”
Neighbours are planning to finish the harvest for the family.
