Four vehicles were involved in a major collision that shut down Highway 19 outside Devon late Tuesday afternoon.
The crash happened at around 4:43 p.m., just east of Highway 60 and Range Road 261, southwest of Edmonton.
The crew in the Global 1 helicopter noted three vehicles appeared to be on the north side of the highway.
STARS Air Ambulance was on scene, as well as at least two fire trucks and two ambulances.
Edmonton police said two people were taken to hospital. One person was airlifted in life-threatening condition by STARS and a second person with potentially life-threatening injuries was taken by ground ambulance.
Highway 19 was shut down in both directions as of 5 p.m. East and westbound traffic was being rerouted.
Leduc RCMP helped direct traffic but said the area is technically under the jurisdiction of Edmonton police.
Kyle Kindjerski was driving in his pickup truck when he saw the crash unfold.
“You could hear all the car parts smack against your windows… it was just carnage,” he told Global News.
According to Kindjerski, the driver of one of the vehicles involved clearly needed help, so he and several other drivers got out of their vehicles to assist any way they could.
“He was stuck in his truck,” Kindjerski said. “The dash was crushing his knees and his steering wheel was crushing his belly and the roof was on his face.
“Everybody was just kind of panicking… because his truck was smoking so we were trying to get the battery cables off of it just in case there was a fire.”
Watch below: There are renewed calls to twin Highway 19 after a four-vehicle crash on Tuesday. The mayor of Devon said the town has been pleading with the province for more than a decade. Kendra Slugoski reports.
Kindjerski told Global News he remembered he had a jack with him in his truck and that he’d seen video before of someone using such a tool to extricate someone from a vehicle.
“He was yelling that he couldn’t breathe and couldn’t move and his legs were obviously pinched,” Kindjerski said. “So we jacked the roof and the dash so that he was free… (although) he still couldn’t get out of the vehicle.”
Kindjerski said they held the jack in place until emergency crews arrived.
–With files from Global News’ Phil Heidenreich
Comments