An early morning, single vehicle crash on Memorial Drive Northwest claimed one life and sent two people to hospital.
According to EMS Public Education Officer Stuart Brideaux, emergency crews responded to the 500 block of Memorial Drive N.W., between the community of Sunnyside and the Bow River pathway, shortly before 3:00 a.m. following reports of a crash.
First responders encountered a car that had been travelling eastbound before leaving the road, flipping and colliding with a tree.
Clayton, who did not disclose his last name, was in his nearby apartment when he was startled by the sound of the crash.
“We heard a loud noise and a loud skid, a grinding noise,” said Clayton. “We came outside and ran over to the vehicle. The airbags in the vehicle went off so you couldn’t really see inside.”
Clayton said he was able to reach the passenger in the back of the overturned vehicle who was hanging out the window.. “We checked her pulse, her heart was beating, so we just tried to wake her up and then the ambulance came.”
Mark McLeod was walking home when the crash occurred. McLeod said he feared the worst given the state of the car and the lack of noise.
“I didn’t hear any screaming at all inside the vehicle,” said McLeod. “The vehicle was bent like an accordion.”
The front seat passenger, a woman believed to be in her 30s, was pronounced dead at the scene. The identity of the deceased has not been released.
Crews extricated a backseat passenger from the wreckage. The woman, believed to be in her 30s, was transported to the Foothills Medical Centre in serious, potentially life threatening condition.
The driver of the car, a man in his late 30s, was transported by ambulance to hospital in non-life threatening condition.
The eastbound lanes of Memorial Drive were closed for several hours following the crash but have reopened.
The Calgary Police Service traffic unit is investigating the collision.
