A tragic collision has claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl and left three other people in critical condition, Calgary police said late Thursday night.
The girl was the youngest victim of the multi-vehicle accident, Calgary police said in a news release, while sending condolences to her family and all those impacted by the tragedy.
Earlier in the day, police said the man whose reckless driving instigated five-vehicle pileup — shortly before 10 a.m. at the intersection of Macleod Trail and Southland Drive — had fled an attempted traffic stop after allegedly robbing a pharmacy and assaulting the business-owner earlier that morning.
“It was a horrific collision,” Scott Campbell, duty inspector for CPS, told reporters. “Thankfully, at this time there weren’t more people involved, but certainly our hearts go out to the families that were involved, because it’s really a horrific scene.”
Shortly before the crash, police had initially responded to reports of a robbery and assault at the Pharmasave Millrise off James McKevitt Road at approximately 9:30 a.m. on Boxing Day.
Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop of the vehicle on Anderson Road, but the driver continued driving at a high rate of speed. Campbell said at one point, police’s HAWCS helicopter estimated the van was driving 180 km/h.
“Due to the amount of traffic and the nature of traffic at this time of year, no (on-ground) pursuit was initiated,” he said. “Rather, we continued to follow that stolen vehicle with the helicopter.
“Approximately 18 minutes after that traffic stop was initiated, the offender continued to drive dangerously at high speeds and ran a red light at Southland and Macleod Trail, colliding with several vehicles, resulting in serious injuries.”
Two injured adults, who were in separate vehicles, were taken to hospital in critical but stable condition, according to Campbell. The two injured youths were taken to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in critical, life-threatening condition.
Police cleared parts of Glenmore Trail and Crowchild Trail of traffic to get victims to hospital as quickly as possible.
Five vehicles were involved in the collision, which shut down the intersection and sections of Macleod Trail and Southland Drive for much of the day.
Two people who were trapped in their vehicles had to be extricated with the Jaws of Life, said Scott Cowan, battalion chief with the Calgary Fire Department. A third person was rescued from a vehicle by citizens before emergency personnel arrived.
Cowan said this could well be “the collision of the year,” in terms of its severity.
“We often see collisions that involve five vehicles, but usually they’re more minor,” the battalion chief said. “This is pretty severe, with lots of damage to the majority of these vehicles.”
Witnesses and those involved in the incident described the chaotic scene to Postmedia.
B.C. resident Paul Donaldson, visiting family for the holidays, was driving his brother’s Ford Explorer when the truck was hit by another vehicle.
He said he had been travelling south on Macleod, waiting to turn left onto Southland.
“I seen a guy come flying through the frickin’ light here. It was red,” Donaldson said.
“He T-boned somebody and I think the person that got T-boned flew into us . . . That’s all I basically remember. He was flying . . . it happened so quick.”
His brother Jason Donaldson said, “He’s my twin and I had a feeling just to call him, I wanted to see (if he was OK) . . . I called him and he was literally just in the accident. I’m just glad he’s OK, but it’s not the same for a couple of people there.”
Another driver who stopped at the accident scene told Postmedia he’d been in the community of Millrise on James McKevitt Road when he encountered a grey van that he said was speeding in the wrong lane.
“My wife and I were like, ‘What the heck is going on here?’” said the driver.
“I don’t know what was going on with him,” he said. “We managed to pull over to the far right lane . . . Honestly, he probably went by us at like 140 (km/h).
“I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.”
The driver said he and his wife later came upon the collision scene and realized the busted-up minivan appeared to be the same one that had nearly run into them.
The person who was driving the stolen minivan that caused the collision was uninjured and arrested at the scene, according to CPS. Campbell said police will investigate both the collision and the initial pharmacy robbery, and charges are pending as the investigation continues.
The Alberta Serious Incident Response Team will also investigate, he added, due to the police involvement in the initial traffic stop on Anderson Road.
A sign on the Millrise Pharmasave confirmed the business had been robbed and that it was closed for the rest of the day while police investigated.
CPS says anyone who witnessed the collision or has footage from the area at the time of the incident is asked to contact police by calling 403-266-1234.
