Semi-truck driver charged in ‘complicated’ multi-vehicle, fatal crash near Oyen, Alta.

Months after a fiery highway crash claimed the lives of three people near Oyen, Alta., RCMP have charged a driver of one of the semi-trucks involved.

Eleven vehicles, including three semi-trucks, were involved in the collision on Highway 9 between Chinook and Cereal on Aug. 20, at about 3:30 p.m. RCMP originally said 10 vehicles were involved in the crash, but said on Wednesday it was 11.

One of the semi-trucks was hauling fuel, which caught fire and quickly spread to other vehicles. One of the semis was also hauling butane. Images from the scene showed thick black smoke billowing from the multiple wreckages and flames.

Three adults were killed in the crash. Two were airlifted to hospitals and eight others were either treated for injuries at the scene or taken to hospital in ambulances.

RCMP said Thursday that 22-year-old Daniel Zacharias Wollman was charged with three counts of dangerous driving causing death and 14 counts of dangerous driving causing bodily harm.

The Mitchell, Man., man was located in Saskatchewan, RCMP said, and issued a summons to appear in court in Hanna, Alta., on April 22 to answer to the charges.

The RCMP could not say whether speed, drugs or alcohol were a factor in the crash.

RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Deanna Fontaine said the charges come at the end of a “lengthy investigation into a complicated, multi-vehicle crash” that involved numerous officers from the Oyen, Coronation and Airdrie detachments, as well as the southern Alberta collision analyst.

In January, RCMP also charged a semi-truck driver in a fatal crash from Aug. 7 that claimed the life of a young boy and seriously injured the other four, surviving members of his family.