- jeu. 21 mars 2013 20:41
#310768
Au moins 200 véhicules impliqués dans un carambolage monstre au sud d'Edmonton.
‘Endless wreckage’ on Edmonton-area highways, hospitals treat about 100 people injured in snow-related crashes
By Mariam Ibrahim and Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal March 21, 2013 6:53 PM
More than 100 vehicles were ensnared in multiple pileups on Highway 2 near Leduc as a relentless spring snow storm hammered the province.
Follow Alberta's Official Road Reports
Send us your weather photos
EDMONTON - Derek Fildebrandt was aboard a Red Arrow bus heading into Edmonton on the QEII Highway on Thursday.
“We hit the brakes. I looked up and eighteen-wheelers were crashing into each other, cars flying into each other. About every 200 metres it was a pileup,” Fildebrandt says. “There would be a pileup and then there would be a small safe zone and then there would be another pileup. The roads were like a rink and visibility was extraordinarily poor.”
Fildebrandt, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, was supposed to give a speech at the University of Alberta Thursday afternoon, so he decided to try his luck hitchhiking north into the city once he realized traffic was at a standstill. He didn’t wait long before a woman driving a pickup stopped for him.
“She’s got a giant powerful truck. We’ve taken back roads,” he said, adding they first had to head south to Wetaskiwin before rerouting north.
“We started to get a real idea of the scale of things once we headed southbound. It was just endless wreckage.”
Kerry Williamson with AHS says four buses were commandeered to assess patients at the scene. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Alberta Health Services says it’s treating more than 100 injured people after heavy, blinding snow wreaked havoc on central and northern highways, ensnaring more than 100 vehicles in multiple crashes.
One person with serious injuries was taken to the University Hospital in Edmonton, while 21 others with minor to moderate injuries were transported to Leduc, Ponoka and other area hospitals, the health authority said. The majority of people involved in the pileups — about 80 — suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
The number of injuries was earlier thought to be around 300, but Alberta Health Services revised that number after people were assessed at the scene.
A “multi-casualty” incident bus was sent to the pileup and RCMP and fire crews went from vehicle to vehicle checking for the injured, said Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson.
Four buses from Edmonton Transit were also on their way at about 3 p.m. to provide shelter and warmth to motorists who were stuck in their vehicles for hours.
A pair of Edmonton police officers were sent to the scene to escort transit buses that were being used to transport injured people, police spokeswoman Leila Daoud said. The police disaster and emergency operations service branch is on standby if more assistance is requested, she added.
Wetaskiwin RCMP, along with Ponoka and Leduc integrated traffic units reported the multiple-vehicle collision northbound on the QEII, north of the Highway 13 overpass, around 11:30 a.m. That crash set off a chain reaction in the area, involving more than 100 vehicles in all, RCMP said.
Photos shared on Twitter by people at the scene show dozens of cars, trucks and semis across the roads and in the ditches. The QEII both north and south near Highway 13 remains closed to traffic as RCMP continue to investigate and crews work to clear vehicles from the area.
Health Minister Fred Horne said AHS is giving him regular updates on the collisions and he is confident Alberta’s health system can handle the sudden influx of patients.
“It’s important to know that we have plans in place to have a co-ordinated response to incidents like this, involving multiple hospitals and EMS,” Horne said. “There is an orderly approach and deployment of all possible resources to the scene.”
“I’m confident they’ll respond appropriately, but obviously we’re thinking about the people who are out there on the road and their families.”
Sharman Hnatiuk of AHS says four people have been seriously injured on Highway 2 south of Edmonton. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Jeremy Hamilton had been planning a weekend road trip to Kelowna but those plans were snarled when weather and pileups had QEII traffic at a standstill.
“I’ve been stopped dead for almost three hours now,” he said Thursday afternoon. “There’s not a single person that’s moved.”
He said a firefighter told him delays could be several more hours.
“I have never seen anything like this. This is absolutely nuts.”
RCMP advised anyone travelling north on the QEII to detour onto Highway 53 at Ponoka.
The City of Leduc opened their emergency response centre at 12:35 Thursday as a precautionary measure, gathering all of their emergency services in one room to co-ordinate a response.
Since the city’s two ambulances were both at the crash near Millet, they called in eight extra firefighters to provide medical backup for emergencies in the city.
“Just to be safe,” said Leduc Mayor Greg Krischke.
Kerry Williamson with AHS says officials initially believed the number of people hurt was much higher. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Edmonton Transit buses will be transporting people stuck in the crash near Millet, dropping them off at recreation centres in Leduc and Mill Woods, said Mariann McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the City of Leduc. If anyone wants to stay in Leduc, they can phone 780-980-8425 for help finding a hotel.
The province’s road reports website, 511 Alberta, was warning commuters of delays up to three hours from Leduc to Edmonton, and delays of up to six hours on Highway 2 and Highway 44 north of the city.
The northbound lanes were also blocked on the QEII just past the Black Gold Drive overpass near Leduc because of a multi-vehicle crash, several other cars in the ditch and jackknifed semi trailers, RCMP say.
A gravel truck flipped west of Stony Plain near Range Road 15, landing in the ditch and spilling its load across Highway 16.
Four other semi-trailer units either jackknifed or slid into the ditch trying to avoid the accident. The incident shut down the eastbound lanes for at least four hours and was the worst of nearly a dozen collisions throughout the county, said RCMP Const. Gord Buck.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Grant MacDonald says the crash happened just before noon on Highway 2. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
STARS air ambulance was forced to decline three emergency requests out of their Edmonton base and one request out of Calgary because of the weather, said spokesman Cam Heke.
Pilots will continue to monitor conditions and assess any requests on a case-by-case basis, Heke said.
In the Redwater area, the affected roads are Highway 28 and Highway 63. In Lac La Biche County, police say all local highways have sections of driving snow and large sections of black ice. It was the same for highways in Sherwood Park, as RCMP warned against travel.
Drivers are being reminded to adjust their speed for the conditions. Between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., Edmonton police recorded 17 crashes — two that caused injuries, three hit and runs and 12 involving minor damages. That number was expected to rise as the day continued. City police normally respond to an average of between 50 and 70 crashes each day
-- 21 Mar 2013 à 23:44 --
‘Endless wreckage’ on Edmonton-area highways, hospitals treat about 100 people injured in snow-related crashes
By Mariam Ibrahim and Elise Stolte, Edmonton Journal March 21, 2013 6:53 PM
More than 100 vehicles were ensnared in multiple pileups on Highway 2 near Leduc as a relentless spring snow storm hammered the province.
Follow Alberta's Official Road Reports
Send us your weather photos
EDMONTON - Derek Fildebrandt was aboard a Red Arrow bus heading into Edmonton on the QEII Highway on Thursday.
“We hit the brakes. I looked up and eighteen-wheelers were crashing into each other, cars flying into each other. About every 200 metres it was a pileup,” Fildebrandt says. “There would be a pileup and then there would be a small safe zone and then there would be another pileup. The roads were like a rink and visibility was extraordinarily poor.”
Fildebrandt, the Alberta director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, was supposed to give a speech at the University of Alberta Thursday afternoon, so he decided to try his luck hitchhiking north into the city once he realized traffic was at a standstill. He didn’t wait long before a woman driving a pickup stopped for him.
“She’s got a giant powerful truck. We’ve taken back roads,” he said, adding they first had to head south to Wetaskiwin before rerouting north.
“We started to get a real idea of the scale of things once we headed southbound. It was just endless wreckage.”
Kerry Williamson with AHS says four buses were commandeered to assess patients at the scene. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Alberta Health Services says it’s treating more than 100 injured people after heavy, blinding snow wreaked havoc on central and northern highways, ensnaring more than 100 vehicles in multiple crashes.
One person with serious injuries was taken to the University Hospital in Edmonton, while 21 others with minor to moderate injuries were transported to Leduc, Ponoka and other area hospitals, the health authority said. The majority of people involved in the pileups — about 80 — suffered minor injuries and were treated at the scene.
The number of injuries was earlier thought to be around 300, but Alberta Health Services revised that number after people were assessed at the scene.
A “multi-casualty” incident bus was sent to the pileup and RCMP and fire crews went from vehicle to vehicle checking for the injured, said Alberta Health Services spokesman Kerry Williamson.
Four buses from Edmonton Transit were also on their way at about 3 p.m. to provide shelter and warmth to motorists who were stuck in their vehicles for hours.
A pair of Edmonton police officers were sent to the scene to escort transit buses that were being used to transport injured people, police spokeswoman Leila Daoud said. The police disaster and emergency operations service branch is on standby if more assistance is requested, she added.
Wetaskiwin RCMP, along with Ponoka and Leduc integrated traffic units reported the multiple-vehicle collision northbound on the QEII, north of the Highway 13 overpass, around 11:30 a.m. That crash set off a chain reaction in the area, involving more than 100 vehicles in all, RCMP said.
Photos shared on Twitter by people at the scene show dozens of cars, trucks and semis across the roads and in the ditches. The QEII both north and south near Highway 13 remains closed to traffic as RCMP continue to investigate and crews work to clear vehicles from the area.
Health Minister Fred Horne said AHS is giving him regular updates on the collisions and he is confident Alberta’s health system can handle the sudden influx of patients.
“It’s important to know that we have plans in place to have a co-ordinated response to incidents like this, involving multiple hospitals and EMS,” Horne said. “There is an orderly approach and deployment of all possible resources to the scene.”
“I’m confident they’ll respond appropriately, but obviously we’re thinking about the people who are out there on the road and their families.”
Sharman Hnatiuk of AHS says four people have been seriously injured on Highway 2 south of Edmonton. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Jeremy Hamilton had been planning a weekend road trip to Kelowna but those plans were snarled when weather and pileups had QEII traffic at a standstill.
“I’ve been stopped dead for almost three hours now,” he said Thursday afternoon. “There’s not a single person that’s moved.”
He said a firefighter told him delays could be several more hours.
“I have never seen anything like this. This is absolutely nuts.”
RCMP advised anyone travelling north on the QEII to detour onto Highway 53 at Ponoka.
The City of Leduc opened their emergency response centre at 12:35 Thursday as a precautionary measure, gathering all of their emergency services in one room to co-ordinate a response.
Since the city’s two ambulances were both at the crash near Millet, they called in eight extra firefighters to provide medical backup for emergencies in the city.
“Just to be safe,” said Leduc Mayor Greg Krischke.
Kerry Williamson with AHS says officials initially believed the number of people hurt was much higher. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
Edmonton Transit buses will be transporting people stuck in the crash near Millet, dropping them off at recreation centres in Leduc and Mill Woods, said Mariann McLaughlin, spokeswoman for the City of Leduc. If anyone wants to stay in Leduc, they can phone 780-980-8425 for help finding a hotel.
The province’s road reports website, 511 Alberta, was warning commuters of delays up to three hours from Leduc to Edmonton, and delays of up to six hours on Highway 2 and Highway 44 north of the city.
The northbound lanes were also blocked on the QEII just past the Black Gold Drive overpass near Leduc because of a multi-vehicle crash, several other cars in the ditch and jackknifed semi trailers, RCMP say.
A gravel truck flipped west of Stony Plain near Range Road 15, landing in the ditch and spilling its load across Highway 16.
Four other semi-trailer units either jackknifed or slid into the ditch trying to avoid the accident. The incident shut down the eastbound lanes for at least four hours and was the worst of nearly a dozen collisions throughout the county, said RCMP Const. Gord Buck.
RCMP Staff Sergeant Grant MacDonald says the crash happened just before noon on Highway 2. All audio files courtesy Canadian Press
STARS air ambulance was forced to decline three emergency requests out of their Edmonton base and one request out of Calgary because of the weather, said spokesman Cam Heke.
Pilots will continue to monitor conditions and assess any requests on a case-by-case basis, Heke said.
In the Redwater area, the affected roads are Highway 28 and Highway 63. In Lac La Biche County, police say all local highways have sections of driving snow and large sections of black ice. It was the same for highways in Sherwood Park, as RCMP warned against travel.
Drivers are being reminded to adjust their speed for the conditions. Between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m., Edmonton police recorded 17 crashes — two that caused injuries, three hit and runs and 12 involving minor damages. That number was expected to rise as the day continued. City police normally respond to an average of between 50 and 70 crashes each day
-- 21 Mar 2013 à 23:44 --
Patou
Saskatoon, SK
Saskatoon, SK
