Multiple people are feared dead after a landslide hit hikers in a popular national park in Canada. The incident in Banff National Park has left one person confirmed dead and three rushed to hospital after the tragedy occurred at 1:30pm on Thursday.
Rescue workers are continuing to search for survivors at the site of the disaster close to Bow Glacier Falls, north of Lake Louise. Lake Louise Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) confirmed that “multiple hikers” had been caught up in the rockfall, with one witness believing that as many as 20 people could have been caught up. Niclas Brundell said: “We heard this like ‘chunk’ noise and the whole roof of the wall came loose.”
Mr Brundell who was hiking with his wife close to the site of the incident, estimated the rockfall to be 160 feet wide and 30 feet deep.
He told CBC News: “I was yelling at my wife, ‘Go, go, go! We need to run as fast as we can’.
“We just kept sprinting and I couldn’t see the people behind us anymore because they were all in that cloud of rock. And I saw rocks coming tumbling out of that. So it was, it was big. It was, like, the full mountainside.”
Terrifying footage on social media shows the moment of the landslide with tonnes of earth crashing down a mountainside with hikers in the vicinity.
The video creator Kamala Dixon posted on Facebook: “The Falls were way bigger than normal and flowing very fast.
“I felt something wasn’t right and when I heard the crack I turned around expecting to see a few rocks, instead total devastation.”
Banff National Park is located around 85 miles away from the site of this week’s G7 summit held in Kananaskis, Alberta.
It is part of the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks UNESCO World Heritage Site and is a popular beauty spot amongst tourists and locals.
Banff National Park posted on their Facebook page: “Parks Canada is responding to a report of a serious rockfall incident with involvement near Bow Glacier Falls in Banff National Park.
“This location is approximately 37 km north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway (Highway 93 North). Parks Canada visitor safety teams from Banff and Jasper national parks are responding, with support from other agencies.”
Alberta’s premier Danielle Smith said on X: “I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic event at Bow Glacier Falls, north of Banff, today.
“We are thinking of all those involved and wishing for their safety as we await further details. On behalf of Alberta’s government, I also want to offer my most sincere gratitude to the emergency crews including search and rescue teams, and STARS Ambulance for responding quickly.”