Two men killed in collision northwest of Cochrane identified

WATCH ABOVE: A story of tragedy and survival west of Calgary Sunday.Two young men are dead and one man miraculously survived a night in the frozen wilderness trying to get help after their trucked crashed off a cliff. Carolyn Kury de Castillo reports.

CALGARY – Two people are dead after a serious collision northwest of Cochrane.

They have been identified as Jordan Fish and Nathan Wack, both of Calgary.

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Emergency crews were called to the scene shortly after 4:30 a.m. on Sunday.

RCMP said that a pickup truck fell roughly 400 to 500 feet down an embankment near Highway 40, before coming to a stop on a frozen river bed.

Two men in their 20s were killed and found outside the vehicle.

Another man in his late teens was seriously injured.

“On arrival we were met by a bystander that had one of the occupants in his vehicle – that being a male in his late teens,” Stuart Brideaux with EMS said.

He was transported by STARS to a Calgary area hospital with injuries to his legs – and is said to be suffering from hypothermia and frostbite.

“It’s certainly extraordinary this person didn’t have greater injuries given the mechanism of the descent of the vehicle several hundred feet, through trees and debris and rocks down a river valley,” Brideaux said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's certainly extraordinary this person didn't have greater injuries given the mechanism of the descent of the vehicle several hundred feet, through trees and debris and rocks down a river valley," Brideaux said.

EMS said the truck ended up in a nearby river bed and emergency crews had to use ropes to make their way down the steep embankment.

“They did a rope descend down to the actual collision scene where they assessed the other two occupants, both men and they were pronounced dead at the scene,” Brideaux said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "They did a rope descend down to the actual collision scene where they assessed the other two occupants, both men and they were pronounced dead at the scene," Brideaux said.

EMS said there are reports that need to be verified but the incident may have happened several hours earlier in the night, perhaps closer to midnight or before.

“Given the nature of injuries, the information we were able to get from the patient that we transported, it is possible that this had been hours before 911 was able to be called,” Brideaux said.

It is not known if poor road conditions were a contributing factor in the crash but RCMP say there are indications the vehicle lost control on a road near the embankment.

RCMP continue to investigate the factors that lead to the collision.