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Three people riding in a PEI ambulance were killed after the ambulance was involved in a head-on collision with a semi-truck near the Confederation Bridge in New Brunswick on Tuesday morning, RCMP say.
New Brunswick RCMP confirmed in an email to CBC News that a 77-year-old woman from Montague, P.E.I.; 56-year-old man from Warren Grove, PEI; and a 23-year-old woman from Nine Mile Creek, PEI, died at the scene.
According to a Facebook post by PEI Island EMS, two of the victims were paramedics and the other was a patient under their care. The statement did not reveal their identities.
The driver of the truck, whose age and identity were not released, was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Members of the Sackville RCMP detachment first responded to reports of a two-vehicle collision at 9:11 a.m. Tuesday morning in Melrose, a community in Straight Shores about 12 kilometers southwest of the bridge.
Following the crash, public safety officers diverted traffic off Highway 16. (Victoria Walton/CBC)
A 56-year-old man was driving the ambulance while others in the RCMP identified the vehicle’s occupants. The police are not disclosing their identities.
Police say they believe the ambulance driver was traveling westbound when the collision occurred.
“Our thoughts are with the families involved and the entire first responder community during this difficult time,” Kodiak Regional RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Luke Pickard wrote in an email.
The island ambulance service urged community members not to speculate about what happened in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon that said: “Out of respect for the participants and their loved ones, we ask our community to honor the victims without speculation, but instead with compassion and patience as they navigate the difficult days ahead.”
‘All Islanders are grieving,’ says PEI Premier
P.E.I. Premier Rob Lantz called the incident a “tragic loss” in a statement Tuesday afternoon.
“Today all islanders are in mourning,” he wrote. “Prince Edward Island is a small province and losses like these are felt deeply. Today we are experiencing grief together.”
He noted that the paramedics who died were dedicated to helping others, and that each of their shifts “began with the hope of helping someone during one of life’s most difficult moments.”
He also expressed his condolences to the loved ones affected by the loss of the patient who died in their care.
WATCH | The island ambulance service is “deeply saddened” by the fatal crash:
Three people killed in accident involving ambulance near Confederation Bridge
Three people are dead after a two-vehicle collision on Highway 16 in southeastern New Brunswick. RCMP said a fourth person, the driver of the truck, was sent to hospital with serious injuries.
Jodie Boland, who lives on Highway 16 near Upper Cape Road, said she saw smoke coming out of her home window on Tuesday morning. When she walked outside, she said she saw two ambulances, two fire trucks and “a lot” of police cars.
Picard said police are investigating the collision and that no further information will be released at this time. Both cars were sent for technical inspection.
While the roundabout near the community of Port Elgin is currently open, a portion of Highway 16 near Melrose remains closed to traffic.
NB paramedics hope to help replace PEI
Chris Hood, executive director of the New Brunswick Paramedics Association, said it was a tragic day for everyone involved.
He said his organization is trying to arrange opportunities for New Brunswick paramedics to help fill vacancies on P.E.I. “so that those individuals who have close contact and close collaboration with the deceased can have the time they need to recover and deal with the stress associated with these types of incidents.”
With the highway closed due to the crash, numerous representatives from the RCMP, New Brunswick Ambulance, local fire departments and the New Brunswick Coroner’s Office were on scene. (CBC)
Hood said the paramedic profession is a close-knit profession, with an estimated 1,300 in New Brunswick and between 150 and 200 in P.E.I.
“Perhaps they went to school together. They probably spend time outside of work together in public places and live in the same community,” Hood said of the P.E.I. paramedics who are grieving Tuesday’s loss.
“This profession is fraught with risk. And this highlights that risk even more clearly,” he said.
“I think the most important thing from our perspective is to get through the next deadline and provide our colleagues in Prince Edward Island with the relief they need to allow them to grieve…”