BANFF – A man is fighting for his life in hospital Sunday (May 19) following a severe car accident in Banff.
The man suffered multiple traumatic injuries and had been partially ejected and pinned under a vehicle on Tunnel Mountain Road on Saturday afternoon. He was the lone occupant in the single vehicle collision.
“The extent of injuries was significant,” said Stuart Brideaux, spokesperson for Alberta Health Services.
Paramedic crews worked with Banff Fire Department to stabilize the vehicle and extricate the injured man, who was taken to Banff Mineral Springs Hospital before being transported to a Calgary hospital by ground ambulance.
“I would say that yesterday the patient was definitely, at a minimum, in serious and potentially life-threatening condition at the time of transport,” said Brideaux.
Alberta RCMP spokesperson Mathew Howell said the man was alive Sunday morning.
The crash on the road, which is on a hill, was deemed “a relatively high mechanism collision with a lot of vehicle damage” by investigators.
Witnesses told the RCMP that the man was driving at a “high rate of speed” when the accident occurred at approximately 3:15 p.m.
Banff’s town-wide speed limit is 30 km/h, including on the portion of Tunnel Mountain Road where the incident occurred.
A few hours after the incident, the RCMP said that weather might have been a factor in the collision.
Throughout Saturday, Banff had seen a mix of light showers and sunshine, with temperatures above zero degrees Celsius.
The Tunnel Mountain Road area is fully re-opened to traffic and the public Saturday evening.
The Outlook will update if more information becomes available.
