Watch above: A horrific two vehicle crash near Jasper has taken the lives of four of the five people involved. Eric Szeto reports.
EDMONTON – Four people were killed in a collision involving a motorhome south of Jasper on Wednesday.
The collision between a car and a motorhome happened around 7 p.m. on Highway 93, about 25 kilometres southeast of Jasper.
“What we know at this point is the car that was travelling southbound carrying three people collided head-on with a northbound motorhome,” said RCMP Cpl. Carol McKinley.
All three people inside the car — a 47-year-old man, his 42-year-old wife and their 15-year-old son — died in the crash. A passenger in the motorhome, a 79-year-old woman, was also killed in the collision.
The driver of the RV, the 79-year-old woman’s husband, was airlifted by STARS Air Ambulance to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in serious condition.
The RCMP has notified the victims’ families, and confirmed Friday that the female passenger of the motorhome was from Germany. RCMP also confirmed the family of three, travelling in the car, was from China. All of the people involved in the crash were vacationing in Canada.
“We drove up to the scene and the car was jammed under there,” said Adam Helman, a tow truck operator. “The firefighters were trying to get the only survivor out of the motorhome, and that took a couple hours to get him out and then they airlifted him out of there.”
Helman said the scene was incredibly disturbing.
“Like a bomb went off.
“Parts all over the highway. You couldn’t go anywhere. Literally, parts all over the highway… Blood everywhere,” Helman explained, then said he didn’t want talk about it anymore.
“You see it everyday. That’s what I do for a living, I hate to say it. It’s ugly, nobody wants to see it, but somebody’s gotta go, gotta do it.”
“Sleep was hard last night,” said Helman.
RCMP say all five people involved in the collision are from out of the country. Officers are working to notify their next of kin.
“We’re working on the next of kin notification process,” said McKinley. “At this point we are not releasing where they are from.”
The RCMP says the cause of the crash is not clear at this time.
“We’ve engaged a collision analyst with the RCMP to assist us in determining what may have contributed to the collision and how it occurred,” said McKinley.
She said services are available to members who may need assistance after responding to such a traumatic event.
READ MORE: Warmer weather brings spike in Alberta fatal crashes
The past couple weeks have been deadly on Alberta roads. As of Wednesday morning, 21 fatalities had been recorded in the province since June 25.
Several collisions on Wednesday, including one that killed a motorist in a two-vehicle crash south of Stony Plain, have brought the total number of fatalities up to 29.
The cause of the collision is still under investigation, but officers do not believe alcohol was a factor.
Highway 93 re-opened to traffic early Thursday morning.
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