One person is dead and more than 50 injured following an adverse weather incident which took place at a Buddhist meditation centre Wednesday night in a community northwest of Edmonton.
According to Westlock RCMP, a tent structure collapsed as a part of sever weather that rolled into the Westlock area at approximately 5:30 p.m. at the Westlock Meditation Centre in Busby, AB.
” A severe weather storm came in with some severe winds and at one point the tent structure collapsed on many occupants” as per RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.
Although the number of people under the tent is unavailable, it is believed that between 100 and 200 people were under the tent at the the time of it’s collapse with several suffering serious injuries and being taken to hospital.
The centre planned on hosting an 11-day retreat in the area and was set to begin on Thursday.
The local RCMP said they were assisted by officers from several other nearby detachments, as well as EMS and fire crews.
“This is a real tragic incident,” Savinkoff said. “We have one dead person. We’ve got some serious injuries. It’s going to be a long time before people recover both emotionally and physically.”
A statement was made on the platform X, by Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis.
We are aware of an event in the Westlock area where a tent has collapsed and has required multiple EMS and first responders.
— Mike Ellis (@MikeEllisUCP) August 1, 2024
There is limited information at this time but Alberta’s government is there to support our first responders during this difficult situation.
The incident is now under investigation by RCMP along with Alberta Occupational Health and Safety.
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