‘Multiple hikers’ injured or killed in rock slide near Bow Lake in Banff National Park, RCMP say

Numerous hikers have been caught in a rock slide north of Lake Louise with multiple people injured or killed, according to the RCMP.

At around 1:30 p.m., Lake Louise RCMP were notified that “multiple hikers” were caught in a rock slide on a trail in the Bow Lake/Bow Glacier Falls area.

RCMP Cpl. Gina Slaney said the latest information available is that the incident involves “serious injuries and/or multiple fatalities,” but she didn’t have exact details as there is no cell service in the area and getting information from the scene is difficult.

Parks Canada, the Lake Louise fire department, STARS Air Ambulance and the RCMP are all responding and working to access the scene, she said.

Parks Canada said in an email the agency is “responding to a report of a serious rockfall incident with involvement near Bow Glacier Falls” in Banff National Park, about 37 kilometres north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway, also known as Highway 93 North.

Temporary closures are expected on the highway near Bow Lake and “Parks Canada asks that visitors avoid the area while teams respond.”

‘We need to run as fast as we can’

Canmore resident Niclas Brundell was out hiking in the area with his wife when the rock slide happened.

He told CBC News they had scrambled up to an area to the right of the falls, where several other groups were also exploring and taking photos. He estimates about 15 to 20 people were in the immediate area.

He and his wife became alarmed when several small rocks started to fall, and they began to move away from the area.

“Then we heard this like ‘chunk’ noise and the whole roof of the wall came loose,” he said, referring to an overhanging section of rock on the cliffs next to the waterfalls.

“And we just started sprinting down. I was yelling at my wife, ‘Go, go, go! We need to run as fast as we can.'”

When Brundell looked back over his shoulder, he said he saw a cloud of dust and debris forming as the rock crashed into the slopes below.

“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.”

“To me it looked like at least, like 50 metres wide and at least 10 metres deep.”

When they got to a safe distance, Brundell used an emergency satellite device to call for help, informing responders that there were “many groups” in the area where the rock fell.

“It’s awful,” he said.

‘My heart is with everyone affected’

Edmonton Centre MP and Minister of Emergency Management Eleanor Olszewski expressed her concern for those affected by the rock slide in a social media post Thursday afternoon.

“My heart is with everyone affected by the rock slide near Bow Glacier Falls in Banff. Grateful to Parks Canada, STARS air ambulance, and all first responders supporting the emergency response,” her post on X said.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she was “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic event.”

“We are thinking of all those involved and wishing for their safety as we await further details,” she posted on X.

More to come…