A fatal three semi-truck collision on highway 1 in the area of Chestermere and Paradise Road is still under investigation, according to Strathmore RCMP Detachment Commander Staff Sergeant Mark Wielgosz.

He explained the collision occurred when a semi-truck travelling westbound sideswiped two semi-trucks parked on the shoulder of the highway.

"As a result of some mechanical issue, the driver and some of the occupants of those vehicles were outside on the shoulder of the road when the westbound semi-truck and trailer side swiped and crashed into the two parked semi trucks on the shoulder of the road," he said. 

Wielgosz added one person on the shoulder of the road was struck and pronounced deceased on scene, while the driver of the westbound semi-truck went to the hospital with serious injuries. Several others suffered minor injuries on the scene, but were treated by EMS.

"They (the driver) are still in hospital receiving medical care, but it appears that at this point in time the injuries are not life threatening."

Since the collision is still in the early stages of the investigation, Wielgosz said it's too early to say whether or not charges will be laid. The investigation includes analyzing the information reports and examinations from collision analysts.  

"At this point in time it's difficult to pinpoint an exact cause or contributing factors that were present for this collision itself. The matter is still under investigation to determine exactly what those factors could have been, what the causes might be. A number of sources of information will need to be analyzed, including vehicle driver logs, the scene itself, the observations and findings of the collision analyst, and other examinations of the vehicles present, as well as the scene itself that we're going to need to piece together to determine what, if any, charges are applicable at this time."

On a purely speculative note, if the cause of the collision was a vehicle malfunction from the truck driving westbound, that could still result in charges depending on the circumstances.

"It's really dependent on what we find. If there's any form of negligence that was a contributing factor resulting in the vehicle failure that would be something to be considered."