Long weekend fatal collisions keep province’s Mounties busy

Mounties across the province faced a busy long weekend, responding to a number of collisions on the roads, including some fatal.

A 43-year-old Calgary woman was killed in a collision between two vehicles Sunday morning near Mayerthorpe. RCMP said a truck turning south from Highway 18 and the car she was in collided at the intersection with Highway 43.

Two men, the car’s driver and second passenger, suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries. They were taken to hospital for treatment, Mounties said. The truck’s lone occupant, also a man, suffered serious but non-lifethreatening injuries.

Also that day, a 26-year-old Blood Tribe man was killed after being struck by a vehicle heading southbound on Highway 5 near Lethbridge. The collision happened just before 5 a.m. when the man, along with a woman, were walking south near Township Road 82 toward the Lethbridge Airport. The man was in the southbound driving lane when he was hit by a truck.

RCMP say the truck failed to remain at the scene and the identity of the driver is not known.

“There’s been several fatalities throughout the province this weekend that have been reported thus far,” said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Ronald Bumbry. “Due to any long weekend, there is an increased number of fatalities due to the numbers of people that are on the roads.”

Bumbry said data on fatal collisions on the Labour Day weekend won’t be available until later this week. But he said the long weekend tends to be one of the busiest, with people travelling to and from vacations or visiting family.

A single-vehicle collision also left a 35-year-old male truck driver dead early Saturday after driving into a ditch near Killam.

The truck was driving northbound on Highway 872 when it failed to stop at a stop sign at Highway 13, leading to the crash. Four other male passengers also suffered serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

RCMP also responded to a collision at the Castrol Raceway in Leduc County on Sunday at about 2:30 p.m.

A 29-year-old Calgary man racing a motorcycle on the track crashed, suffering serious injuries. He later died in hospital.