Three dead, several injured in major crash east of Calgary

CEREAL, Alta. – Highway 9 has re-opened after a fiery crash Tuesday afternoon near the hamlets of Cereal and Chinook.

RCMP confirmed three people died and eight others were injured in the crash which happened around 3:30 p.m. and involved 10 vehicles: seven passenger vehicles and three tanker trucks.

“One of the semi trucks was hauling fuel – the fuel ignited and its caused several vehicles to catch fire. A second semi was carrying butane and so that has caused a safety concern in the area, right now the collision area is concerned with flames,” said Cpl. Laurel Scott.

Crews managed to get the flames out by 8 p.m.

The nearby Hamlet of Chinook was forced to evacuate as a precaution. That notice was lifted just before 9 p.m.

Linda Nothing witnessed the scene and described it as horrifying.

“It was just smoke billowing in the sky, I couldn’t tell what it was from the distance. I thought it might have been a brush fire that went out of control but as I got closer the smoke was really black and it didn’t look ordinary.”

Nothing was driving on the highway en route to Saskatoon from Calgary, she says the smoke from the fire was so thick you could hardly see what was going on.

“You couldn’t drive in there, it was just smoke covered and I saw the truck burning and vehicles burning around it. I couldn’t tell how many vehicles were burning.”

 

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