“There were as many as 200 people at this event, and when the structure collapsed, it fell on as many as 100 people.”
One person died and up to 100 were injured after a large tent collapsed in severe weather at the Westlock Meditation Centre Wednesday afternoon, say RCMP.
Police from other nearby detachments, EMS, and fire crews helped in the aftermath, with multiple victims transported to surrounding hospitals, police said late Wednesday. Despite attempts at medical intervention one person died of injuries suffered.
“There were multiple injuries… we have several people that have serious or critical injuries as many as 50 people that suffered minor injuries, like broken bones.”
RCMP are not releasing details about the person killed until next of kin is notified.
Occupational Health and Safety officials had investigators on site Wednesday evening. RCMP are also investigating.
Savinkoff said first responding officers received help from RCMP detachments in Parkland County, Barrhead and Morinville, with as many as 20 police officers on scene to assist emergency crews, and up to nine ambulances at the site.
RCMP are still investigating the cause of the collapse. Savinkoff said it will be a “lengthy” and “detailed.”
“It will be a significant investigation for us. We want to make sure there was no criminality involved in this incident. We’re looking to interview as many people as we can to get a clear picture of what took place,” said Savinkoff.
On its website, the Edmonton Buddhist Research Institute says it founded the meditation centre which features multiple facilities and gardens northwest of the city to accommodate up to 750 guests.
Donna Theresa Moore, 35, was sitting in a VIP section with a friend when she was crushed by a falling speaker after storm winds pummeled the festival around 6 p.m. on Aug. 1. Many of the festivalgoers and workers sustained injuries, and Moore was declared dead at the scene. At a 2015 inquiry into the case, former police officer Richard Marcinkowski, who was the staff sergeant of Camrose Police Service at the time and primary investigator of the incident, said police and event workers had an emergency plan in the case of severe weather, but were not able to initiate it in the face of the fast-moving storm.