A large emergency response was dispatched to the Alberta Rocky Mountains on Thursday afternoon after a rock slide left several hikers injured and Global News has learned at least one person is dead.
It happened near Bow Glacier Falls in Banff National Park, about 37 kilometres north of Lake Louise along the Highway 93 Icefields Parkway.
Alberta RCMP said Mounties and firefighters from Lake Louise were called out to the Bow Lake Falls trail at 1:30 p.m.
According to RCMP, multiple hikers were hit by a rock/landslide and “there may be serious injuries and/or fatalities” but police could not say how bad it was or how many people are hurt, as it was still an unfolding event.
STARS Air Ambulance said STAR-1 from Calgary and STAR-3 from Edmonton responded to the emergency and each airlifted one patient to Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary in unknown condition.
Alberta Health Services didn’t have any information to share.
Global News has learned Jutta Hinrichs died in the rock side. Several of Hinrichs’ friends said she had just returned to Canada from Machu Picchu, Peru, last Friday.
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“We lost a member of our hiking family today. Jutta Hinrichs was a beautiful caring soul with a huge smile and love of people and nature. We just celebrated birthdays in April together,” they said.
“Jutta used to drive elderly people to appointments and for groceries. She was an occupational therapist and taught and mentored and won a lifetime achievement award for her work.”
Parks Canada is leading the emergency response near Bow Glacier Falls.
The federal agency said visitor safety teams from both Banff and Jasper national parks are responding, with support from other agencies.
Temporary closures are expected on Highway 93 near Bow Lake to allow for emergency responders to work. Parks Canada asked that visitors avoid the area on Thursday.
According to Parks Canada, the Bow Glacier Falls trail is a moderate-difficulty hike in of 4.4 kilometres one-way, with an elevation gain of 190 metres, that takes about three hours round-trip.
— with files from Aaron D’Andrea and The Canadian Press
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