Accidents, road closures in Kootenay National Park (updated)
June 21, 2010 by CVNews
Filed under Headlines, Kootenay National Park, Local news, Safety, Travel
Columbia Valley RCMP and Parks Canada.
Following yesterday’s motorcycle fatality, Columbia Valley RCMP were back in the Park today (June 21) around Vermillion Crossing to deal with another fatal single-vehicle accident with two deceased.
It is unknown when this accident happened, as a trucker driving by saw a vehicle in the lake and called it in. We had some weather conditions go through the park last night.
Parks Canada reports that Highway 93 South in Kootenay National Park has been temporarily closed due to the accident. Parks Canada, EMS, RCMP, the Banff Fire Department, Alpine Helicopters and Standish towing have all responded to incident.
UPDATE 3:17PM: Highway 93 South is now fully re-opened for travel.
UPDATE 06/22/2010 8:57AM: A passing trucker observed a vehicle upside down in Vermillion River 1.5 km north of Vermillion Crossing. The vehicle wheels were observed with fast flowing water flowing.
Columbia Valley Detachment and Kootenay Park wardens responded. The fast flow of the water made it difficult for rescue workers to attend to the vehicle. When the 2006 Cooper mini was extracted from the river it was confirmed that two people were deceased. STARS helicopter arrived on scene to assist.
Both remained in their seatbelt. The driver has been identified as 28 year old Holly Wagner from Calgary and the passenger a 36 year old Rodney Douglas Layte also from Calgary.
Evidence on scene indicated the vehicle was southbound heading towards Radium and the vehicle failed to negotiate a left curve. Evidence indicated the vehicle started to lose control while in the north bound lane went into a four wheel drift in the south bound lane and continued on approx 150 feet off the highway, resting upside down in the river. The time of the accident has not been established however the investigation estimates in the early am.
At present time the investigation has been taken over by East Kootenay Traffic Services out of Cranbrook. East Kootenay Traffic analyst was also on scene along with the Coroners office. Speed and alcohol are possible factors from evidence observed at the scene.
Yesterday’s fatal motorcycle accident
Highway 93 South was temporarily closed yesterday (June 20) due to a single-vehicle accident involving a 2006 Harley motorcycle, to allow the RCMP to investigate the accident scene. The accident occurred in the afternoon on Highway 93 South, 5 km south of Kootenay Crossing in Kootenay National Park.
The motorcycle was driven by a 40 year old male from Calgary. A 42 year old female from Calgary was the passenger. The vehicle was traveling east bound when it lost control and went into the ditch.
The female received severe head injuries that resulted in her death. CPR was given by citizens and police when they arrived until STARS arrived on scene with a doctor. The doctor with STARS pronounced the female deceased on scene.
The driver of the motor cycle indicated that the rear tire blew out causing him to lose control.
Columbia Valley detachment was assisted by East Kootenay Traffic services, a traffic analyst and the Coroner’s office. This investigation is continuing.
UPDATE 06/22/2010 8:57AM: The deceased passenger has been identified as Jody Louise Griffiths of Calgary.
I was on the scene, very sad
i was there too….. very sad situation.
Does anyone know if the road is fully open yet?
Our last report from Parks Canada was at 12:37PM announcing that the highway was open to one lane alternating traffic as mentioned. We will update this story as soon as we receive more details.
Parks or the RCMP have to do a better job of communicating the closure of the highway. Traffic was a nightmare Sunday afternoon/evening and there was no notification at the park gates as to what was happening up the road!
Too bad you had to drive an extra hour or so! Maybe if people weren’t in such a hurry to get to where they’re going, accidents like this wouldn’t have to happen…
Chris, how about if people didn’t drink and drive, speed and otherwise maybe the roads would be safer for everyone else that follows the rules of the road.
The comment at the end of the article said “Speed and alcohol are possible factors from evidence observed at the scene.” While tragic as it is everyone that gets behind the wheel of a vehicle needs to take thousands of pounds of steel seriously so they don’t end up dead or worse killing someone completely innocent.
I also knew Holly by the way and I hope she is RIP.
I was stopped at the accident. Didnt see anything, we waited for about an hour and a half and then turned around and went back through Yoho national park and Golden. It is so sad.. we were on our way home from Calgary because my grandfather had been in a serious car accident on Friday the 18th and is still in ICU in the Calgary Foothills hospital. My heart goes out to the family’s of those who were involved in this crash.
we were at the accident, my husband was helping. There were a lot of people there doing everything they could to try and help her.
My husband and 3 coworkers were the second vehicle on scene- they performed CPR and helped to stabilize the scene. A very terrible situation to come upon- our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends.
was also stopped on hwy close to about 2 hours.. my deepest condolences to this woman’s family and friends..a very tragic accident..my heart goes out to this woman’s travelling companions who i passed on the road and to the first responders who tried to help..my prayers are with you all to help heal the trauma…as distanced as i was, this still affected me and made me realize how quickly life can end…
I was trying to get through on this highway to Calgary today and was turned around. It’s sad to think that I was upset about having to drive an extra hour or so to get to Calgary. How easily we are wrapped up in thinking about ourselves instead of others… my heart goes out to the families involved. God bless.
Our hearts go out to all involved. The time that we were inconveinenced was nothing that the familes will go through in the coming days.
That highway is really a death trap. People driving like idiots. I am surprised there is not a major accident every weekend along that road. RCMP have to do a better job of patrolling it for Nut jobs. Sad about this family. Who know’s maybe they were cut off by some “Mario Andretti” wanabe
I have been a frequent traveller of this highway since 1971. A;though a tire blowout was the cause, I can’t help but comment on how fast people are driving on this road and the dangerous moves people are making. I lost my parents in a car accident on a different highway in 1990, and so many idiots can’t drive this road at a decent speed and take an extra 10 minutes in the mountains to get there – just but on some good music and chill for crying out loud and enjoy the scenery ! And the people that go too slow….shame on you too…remember that you are causing a parade and causing people to get impatient and make risky passes…..if everyone moved at 100 kph most of us would be content …..and my deepest condolences to the families
I agree with the slow drivers, it will cause an accident, because people do get impatient. There was some idiot on that same road that day that was slow and all over the road. Dont know if they had been drinking or what. This was after we got hrough the accident.
Nobody MAKES anyone do stupid and risky things. We are all free to make our own choices, driving or not. Becoming impatient and driving like an idiot is a choice that people unfortunately make. Within reason no one should drive faster than they feel comfortable driving, unless there is a posted minimum. Once in awhile you may need to rush, but it is ALWAYS so important to drive the speed limit or 10 kms above? Isn’t staying alive usually more important?
When my grandmother passed away the funeral procession had to travel on the highway to get to the cemetary. I will never forget how it felt to see all of the impatient drivers weaving in and out trying to get past the long line of below-the speed-limit traffic.
The tragedy here is the loss of lives. May they all rest in peace.
I’m trying to find out if it my friend in that crash….we haven’t heard from him since Sunday……………
I was one of the first few vehicles stopped after it happened, so we were waiting for neally 3 hours. To say we were stuck in traffic for so long, when we finally got through the scene people were very cafefull driving. Not many cars came passed us. That was good to see after what had happened. Very sad, my heart goes to the family involved.
We were there too trying to get home to AB and about 20 cars back. The misinformation passerbys gave was astonishing! We had heard there was a deer involved and that a man had died. A hard thing to watch and then to drive by the motorcyclists pulled over down the road. My heart goes out to the friends, family and other witness’s. It was a Tragic situation for everyone even just sitting and waiting and driver’s should be courteous and cautious on that stretch of hwy.
Maybe some of these Indy 500 drivers should take a tour of our local morgue before they hit the road, hell bent for home…or where ever they’re going in such a hurry! It might give them pause to consider their driving habits and the consequences there of……..
Chris – how do you know that she didn’t swerve to avoid an animal? Please don’t judge people before you know the facts.
I’m sorry if it appeared that I was judging this particular accident or the people involved. It was not intended towards them (her). It’s to everyone who is in such a hurry to get somewhere….and specifically to those who were frustrated at the delay this accident caused. My heart goes out to the family and friends who lost a loved one…..in this, or any accident.
There are a lot of idiotic drivers on 93 (unfortunately, mostly from Calgary). Its amazing how often you see people trying to pass around blind corners, forcing traffic coming in the other direction to the shoulder. All to save 5-10 minutes off the drive. I’m not saying that these accidents in particular were a result of dangerous driving, but there is clearly a problem with how people typically behave on this road.
The drive itself is beautiful. People should slow down and enjoy the scenery. Of course, the type of person who races through the park probably doesn’t have a personality that is capable of appreciating it.
Holly was a good friend of mine, she will be deeply missed. RIP Holly
Holly was a good friend to me. I was looking forward to seeing her again when I got home to Calgary. I’m just shocked and deeply saddened by all of this. I will miss you so much. I’ll think of you often and always look back fondly on all the good times we had. RIP my friend.
Holly will be dearly missed, she was an amazing person. Rest in Peace Holly
Holly was my cousin and was a very good person. No one knows what happened out there and the entire story will never be known. Please don’t jump to conclusions until we know as much as we can about what happened.
This was a simple tragic accident. No one’s fault. There were many of us who offered assistance. For those of you stuck in traffic waiting… Some us were doing our best to save someones life.
This, by all appearances was a horrific accident where the motorcycle rider did his best to overcome a blown rear tire…unfortunately there were tragic consequences. I was one of the people attempting to assist with the rescue efforts, and have significant training in collision analysis. There was little or nothing the rider could have done differently, and by all accounts, there was no speed issues at play. My heart goes out to the friends and family of the deceased; and my appreciation to all those who stopped and tried to help. For anyone who feels that they were ‘incovenienced’ by this tragedy…GROW UP. Some of us were to busy trying to help to feel that we were late to resume our journey.
I’m not going to comment on the generally dangerous driving that people display on this road…this is a time to reflect and respect the victims…RIP
Rest in peace Rodney. We miss you terribly back home. You are a wonderful person. xoxo