Four migrant workers from the Philippines are dead after a head-on collision in southern Alberta late Sunday night that police believe was the result of drunk driving.
RCMP in Innisfail say paramedics and fire crews responded to the crash scene on the QEII Highway shortly after 11 p.m. local time.
According to eyewitnesses, an SUV was travelling north in the southbound lanes of the highway when it collided with a southbound car carrying the workers.
Two men, both aged 35, and two women, aged 52 and 39, all believed to be temporary workers from the Philippines, were killed. Another victim, a 28-year-old female, was transported to hospital in Edmonton suffering from critical injuries.
Three of the dead had worked at the Coast Edmonton Plaza Hotel. The hotel's manager, Kelly McCauley, said colleagues have been "saddened beyond words" by the deaths.
"They were like family to us," he told CTV Edmonton. "We've got a large community, a large family at the hotel, and they were like brothers and sisters to us."
McCauley said the hotel is offering grief counselling.
RCMP say the 29-year-old driver of the SUV was treated at a hospital in Red Deer for undisclosed injuries and released.
"He subsequently refused to provide a breath sample and remains in RCMP custody at this time," an RCMP news release said.
RCMP Const. Doug Dewar told CTV that the driver is scheduled to make a court appearance in Red Deer Monday afternoon, when it is expected he will be charged with four counts of impaired driving causing death.
The crash is reminiscent of a horrific crash in Ontario last month where 10 migrant workers, who hailed from Peru and Nicaragua, were killed when their van collided with a truck. The driver of the truck was also killed, and three other passengers of the van were injured.
In that accident, police blamed driver error for the crash.
