Court date set in advance of fatality inquiry into deadly Columbia Icefield bus rollover
3 died and dozens were injured when tour bus slid down rock slope
A court date has been set in advance of a fatality inquiry for three people who died when a tour bus tumbled down an embankment on the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park.
Fourteen others suffered life-threatening injuries after the bus lost control in the popular tourist destination south of Jasper in July 2020.
The Alberta government's website says a pre-inquiry conference is set for June 10 in Jasper.
The court date marks the start of inquiry proceedings that will examine the deaths of Dionne Durocher, 24, of North Battleford, Sask., along with Griva Patel, 28, of Edmonton and Kamleshbhai Patel, 58, of India.
The three passengers were killed when the tour bus rolled down an icy rock slope, slid down a moraine embankment and came to rest on its roof.
The rollover occurred on the afternoon of July 18, 2020.
Before it crashed, the bus was on its second trip of the day, carrying tourists to the Athabasca Glacier, about 100 kilometres southeast of Jasper.
Of the 27 people on board, 24 sustained injuries and were transported from the crash site to a triage area by helicopters.
RCMP did not lay criminal charges, but bus operator Brewster Travel Canada Inc. was charged in May 2022 under Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety Act related to the lack of seatbelts, failing to control hazards and failing to ensure equipment was in safe operating condition.
It was ordered to pay a fine of $475,000.
Seatbelts were added to the company's buses and drivers' training requirements changed before tours restarted in 2021.
A date for the inquiry has not been set.
At provincial fatality inquiries, evidence is entered and witnesses are questioned, but the judge who presides cannot assign blame, but can make recommendations for changes to help prevent similar deaths.
With files from CBC News