Emergency crews responded to a location on Highway 1 west of Calgary on Wednesday morning following a crash that killed two people and injured five others.
RCMP and EMS were called to the single-vehicle rollover in the eastbound lanes of the highway, about 10 km west of the intersection with Highway 22, at about 9:15 a.m.
Two people, a man and woman in their 30s, were ejected from the vehicle and were pronounced dead at the scene.
Five other people were injured in the crash:
- The driver, a 32-year-old woman was airlifted by STARS to hospital in life threatening condition
- A woman in her 30s, a woman in her 50s, a woman in her late 20s and a man in his 30s were taken to Calgary area hospitals
Witnesses at the scene say the passenger van rolled two or three times.
"Different witness accounts illustrated the van may have rolled up to two or three times, that will be under investigation of what may have occurred, however, there is very substantial damage to the vehicle and quite a large debris field," said Stuart Brideaux from Calgary EMS.
Police say three of the injured people were also thrown from the vehicle and two others had to be extricated.
The eastbound lanes of Highway 1 were closed at the Jumping Pound weigh scales and traffic was diverted through the weigh scales and back out onto the highway.
Alcohol is suspected as a factor in the crash.
"At this time we believe alcohol is a factor in this motor vehicle crash," said RCMP Sgt. Jeff Campbell. "Our Collision Criminal Investigative team is assisting with this crash, anytime there's a fatality and or alcohol involved, our collision analyst is also assisting in the investigation."
Eastbound traffic was detoured for several hours following the crash. As of 2:00 p.m., all lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway have reopened.
