A Lethbridge woman and her two children continue to recover after Sunday’s deadly crash near the central Alberta town of Olds killed both her husband and mother.
RCMP said in a news release the crash happened at around 9 a.m. on Highway 2 near the Highway 27 overpass.
Investigators said the collision involved one vehicle which “left the road surface and came to rest against the overpass.”
On Tuesday, friends said Ellen Palencia and her family were on their way home to Lethbridge after a short visit to Edmonton at the time.
Palencia’s husband, Leo, and her mother, Del Plantinos, were both killed. Palencia and her two children suffered serious injuries.
Close family friends said Ellen’s mother had just travelled to Canada from the Philippines to visit the family when the crash happened.
“It’s really shocking hearing the news,” said Regina Lopez, who is with the Filipino Canadian Association of Lethbridge.
“We’re finding ways to help this family.”
An update posted on social media on Monday said in part: “Ellen just went in for surgery for her badly injured right leg. Her oldest son is still in ICU with a broken sternum. Can use lots of prayers for Ellen at this difficult moment.”
“All of us at Ellen’s work are really in shock and heartbroken with this tragic incident,” Ellen’s friend and co-worker Angel Doreza said.
A GoFundMe has been set up in order to raise money for the family.
It reads, in part: “This money will be used towards the funeral and cost of sending the bodies to our home country (Philippines). And also for some more medical expenses that Ellen and her sons will need.”
RCMP continue to investigate the cause of the crash.