EDMONTON- Edmonton police say a 20-year-old woman died, after she was struck by a Jeep that lost control during an event in Oliver Square Saturday afternoon.
“There was a demonstration going on involving a number of different Jeep vehicles, or Jeep-type vehicles, when something went obviously wrong,” said Inspector Chad Tawfik with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS).
The incident happened around 1:05 p.m., during a ‘Jeeps Go Topless’ show and shine event, which was raising funds for the Edmonton Food Bank.
Police say the woman was a spectator at the event, located at 116th Street and 104th Avenue.
Desiree Hallworth, who witnessed the incident, says a man driving an orange and black Jeep was demonstrating a stunt where he drove his Jeep up onto the tire of another Jeep. The stunt was over when the orange and black Jeep accelerated forward, crushing the woman against the hood of a nearby silver Jeep, Hallworth said.
The following photo was taken by Hallworth at the event Saturday afternoon.
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“She was just having fun, she was laughing and enjoying herself and the next thing you know she’s just, she’s out of this world. She’s gone,” Hallworth said. “It was terrifying. I was bawling my head off and I was standing a foot away. If it was just a little bit more that could have been me and my family.”
Spectators at the event said it was a fairly routine stunt. Hallworth believes there was nothing the driver of the Jeep could have done, but wonders why bystanders were allowed to stand so close to the stunt.
“They shouldn’t have allowed so many people next to this thing,” she said. “They should have had it blocked off so that people couldn’t have been so close, because something did go wrong.”
Police say paramedics performed CPR on the woman, before she was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
The male driver of the orange and black Jeep was also taken to hospital with unknown injuries, according to EPS.
The stunt happened in front of hundreds of other spectators. Victim services was made available, to help people who witnessed the fatal accident.
“It’s an extremely traumatizing event. Most of these people, they’re avid motor vehicle enthusiasts, they come to an event like this, they’re not expecting something like this to happen,” Tawfik said.
Police are now investigating to determine exactly what happened.
“We’re, of course, collecting statements from everybody and we are in the process of looking for more information. Probably people were taking video of this kind of demonstration, so if anybody does have video if they could contact the Edmonton Police Service through our complaint line (780-423-4567) and get in touch with investigators it would really benefit the investigation,” Tawfik said.
Officers say this incident marks the 10th traffic fatality of 2013. There were 12 at this time last year.
With files from Jenna Bridges, Global News.
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