Dionne Jocelyn Durocher, 24, was one of the three victims of the Columbia Icefields bus rollover. (Facebook)

By battlefordsNOW Staff

Icefields crash

Bus rollover victim identified as Battlefords resident, Unity family reflects on close call

Jul 21, 2020 | 12:41 PM

As we learn about one of the victims of the deadly bus rollover in Alberta Saturday, another Saskatchewan family is reflecting on its decision not to take the tour that ended in tragedy.

According to Alberta RCMP, a 24-year-old woman from Canoe Narrows is among the three fatalities in the rollover of a glacier sightseeing bus at the Columbia Icefields on Saturday.

Family and close friends have identified her as Dionne Jocelyn Durocher who was living in North Battleford with her boyfriend of two years, Devon Ray Ernest, who along with his cousin, was also on the bus. The three took the trip as part of a birthday celebration for Ernest.

Ernest says he believes his girlfriend would still be alive if the sightseeing bus had seatbelts.He says the last thing he remembers is hitting the roof of the bus, then waking up next to Durocher who was barely breathing and later pronounced dead.

Three people were killed in the rollover, and the 24 other people on board were sent to hospital, many with critical injuries.

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The other two people who lost their lives when the Ice Explorer vehicle rolled were a 28-year-old Edmonton woman and a 58-year-old man from India.

More than a dozen other people were critically injured when the bus carrying 27 passengers rolled over at the popular Rocky Mountain attraction.

Only four were still considered to be in critical, but stable condition. One occupant was in serious but stable condition.

Picture of the Columbia Icefields bus crash. (submitted photo/Chris Bunz)

Life-saving decision

Meanwhile, a father and daughter from Unity are reflecting on a choice they made Saturday in Alberta.

“We are pretty happy we didn’t go on the bus,” Chris Bunz told CKOM.

Bunz and his daughter Parker were visiting the Columbia Icefield at the time of the crash.

The two planned to visit the icefield as they drove from Jasper to Banff. More than 1.2 million visitors visit the icefield each year, and both were excited to see it for the first time.

“We would have gone up on the bus if the line hadn’t been so long,” he said. “We ended up taking a different route and walking up. It was quite a hike.”

It wasn’t until they were on the ice that they noticed something terrible happened.

“We noticed the vehicle when we were on the ice. It must have just happened on our walk-up,” Bunz said. “Fire trucks, ambulance, police vehicles, helicopters overhead … it was quite the scene.

“It’s just not something you expect to see. You look and see this terrible accident. It’s a shame,” he said.

Thus far, the cause of the rollover is unknown, but RCMP can confirm there isn’t any evidence that a rockslide took place before the incident.

The investigation is ongoing.

—

—With files from Canadian Press and CKOM

cjnbnews@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsNOW