If you have friends or family travelling from B.C. this morning, they might be delayed. An accident that occurred just after midnight this morning (July 6) is still affecting traffic eastbound on Highway 1.

Sergeant Ryan Currie says a member of the Canmore RCMP was on roving patrol on Highway 1 near Lac Des Arcs when he saw an explosive fireball in the sky at 12:14 am.

On investigation, the RCMP officer found two semi trucks had collided on the road. "It appears one of the trucks was parked on the side of the road and the other truck struck it as it was travelling eastbound on the highway."

The impact of the collision caused an immediate explosion and subsequent fire. A pedestrian, believed to be the driver of the parked semi, was struck and killed upon impact. A passenger in the parked semi was ejected from the vehicle and taken to hospital as was the driver of the travelling semi, both with undetermined injuries. STARS Air Ambulance was initially put on standby, but were called off when ground crews determined the two injured individuals only required ground transportation to the hospital.

Sgt. Currie says a collision analyst has been engaged to determine the cause. "There is no direct cause right now other than that the one vehicle stuck the other on the highway. It appears the first vehicle was pulled over on the shoulder but not sure if it was in the driving lane or not."

At this point there's no indication to suggest alcohol or drugs were a factor and information regarding the deceased driver is not being released as RCMP notify next of kin.

Sgt. Currie says he was on scene just before 9:00 am and while westbound lanes and one eastbound lane are open he is asking traffic to slow down. "There is still quite a mess on the slow lane of travel so anybody travelling in the area eastbound from Canmore to Cochrane should be very careful and watch their speeds as they go by the scene."

 

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