Fatal collision details could take weeks to emerge

Nine-year-old girl killed, with two more children and an adult in hospital

Details of an investigation into a collision that claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl on Monday, may not be known for weeks, say RCMP.

“It’s a technical-type investigation when you’ve got a reconstruction. You are dealing with measurements and math and things like that,” said Redcliff RCMP S/Sgt. Sean Maxwell. “It could go into weeks quite easily.”

At this stage neither drugs nor alcohol are considered to be factors.

The nine-year-old girl was a passenger in a Pontiac Sunfire travelling westbound on the Trans-Canada Highway, said Maxwell. A semi was travelling eastbound, in the midst of a left turn onto Highway 41 N.

There were three others in the Pontiac — two 12-yearolds and a female who was driving — all from Chestermere. One of the children has life-threatening injuries, and the other has serious injuries. The female driver was listed in serious, but stable condition. The driver of the semi-truck was not hurt in the collision.

Maxwell was not able to provide an update Tuesday on the condition of those in hospital.

The RCMP will not be releasing the identity of the victims, he said.

At the time of the collision there was heavy traffic on the TCH around Highway 41 N, which would have been consistent with the Monday of a long-weekend.

At least two ambulances were called to the scene of the accident, said Maxwell.

Medicine Hat Fire Service and Cypress County Fire Services assisted at the scene.

Medicine Hat Fire Service responded about 3 p.m. with a fire engine and rescue unit, said deputy chief Lance Purcell. Extrication was required for the occupants.

Westbound traffic on the TCH was diverted for several hours as RCMP investigators examined the scene.

Local MLA Drew Barnes said his heart and prayers are with the family of those involved in the collision, calling it “devastating news.”

The RCMP collects data on locations and the frequency of collisions at specific intersections, said Maxwell. This is shared with Alberta Transportation.

This particular stretch of the TCH has been of concern for some time. September 2006 there was a fatality at the intersection of Eagle Butte Road and TCH. A green 1995 Chrysler Concorde headed north on Eagle Butte Road entered the TCH and collided with a green 1997 Ford Explorer travelling east.

“The collision forced both vehicles into the median. They came to rest a car-length short of a memorial placed in memory of an earlier victim of the intersection. Three people have died in the last two years in crashes at the interchange,” a story in the News explained at the time.

In 2004, there was an open house at Eagle Butte High School to provide input about traffic along the TransCanada Highway near Dunmore.

Intersections and risk are ranked across the province, says Jerry Lau, infrastructure manager with Alberta Transportation, and the one at TCH and Highway 41 N is not flagged as being “collision prone.”

There was a recommendation to have a Medicine Hat bypass in the future to the south of the city, with the junction being east of Highway 41 N, said Lau.

“It’s identified as a major project so it could be 20 or 30 years out,” said Lau.

Because a bypass is planned for the future there are no current plans for an interchange at this intersection where the collision occurred.