Police in Alberta are investigating a deadly rollover of an icefield tour bus in the Canadian Rockies that killed three people and sent two dozen to hospital on Saturday.
The off-road bus crashed near the Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Canadian Rockies located between Jasper National Park and Banff National Park, about 300 kilometres northwest of Calgary.
Investigators with the Occupational Health and Safety department of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and the Transportation Safety Board were examining on Sunday the tour bus, which slid about 50 metres down a steep embankment before coming to rest on its roof near the glacier.
Jasper RCMP detachment commander Sgt. Rick Bidaisee said Sunday that he was unable to confirm the cause of the rollover.
“We are at the infancy stage of the investigation,” Bidaisee told CBC News, adding that work was underway to try to remove the bus from the crash site so it can be examined.
Bidaisee said additional resources were called in to help with the removal, and asked the public to stay clear of the area so that there would be room to work.
A witness shared this photo of a bus crash in the Columbia Icefield area of Jasper National Park. (Submitted by Randy Cusack)
The company that operates the popular tours is assisting in the investigation.
“We started right away to review what happened, what is our process with our protocol at every step and so we’re doing that internally but we are also working with the external teams to ensure that gets a fulsome review,” said Dave McKenna, the president of the Banff Jasper Collection by Pursuit, which operates the tours and its fleet of 22 vehicles.
The company has also reached out to the families to offer “any support, any travel aid, that sort of thing,” he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared his condolences on social media on Sunday morning.
“To those who lost a loved one in yesterday’s bus crash at the Columbia Icefield, know that we are here for you and are keeping you in our thoughts. We also wish a full recovery to those who were injured,” Trudeau wrote. “And to the first responders, thank you for your quick action and hard work.”
To those who lost a loved one in yesterday’s bus crash at the Columbia Icefields, know that we are here for you and are keeping you in our thoughts. We also wish a full recovery to those who were injured. And to the first responders, thank you for your quick action and hard work.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) July 19, 2020
The red and white big-wheeled buses regularly take tourists up a rough rocky road onto the Athabasca Glacier in Jasper National Park.
In all, 27 people were aboard when it crashed.
Alberta Health Services spokesperson Kerry Williamson said a total of 24 patients were treated at the scene and transported to hospitals in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie and Banff.
Fourteen people had life-threatening head or pelvis injuries, Williamson said. Five others were in serious condition with shoulders or leg fractures and the remaining five suffered minor injuries.
The response to the accident mobilized 28 ground and air ambulances, as well as helicopters from a number of communities.
“Due to the extremely difficult terrain and no road access to the crash site, some patients were triaged and treated near the bus before being airlifted from the scene to waiting ambulances at a nearby staging area,” Williamson said in a statement.
The first ground ambulance arrived from Jasper at 3:17 p.m., and the last patient was transported from the scene at 8:43 p.m., she added.
Hospitals in both Edmonton and Calgary were put on “Code Orange” alert so that they were prepared for the high number of patients with critical and serious injuries, Williamson said.
With files from CBC News and The Canadian Press
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