2021-04-07

Gold River crash claims the life of a Marriotts Cove senior

Mounties say a Lunenburg County senior died in a March 30 accident involving three vehicles near Western Shore.

A 68-year-old Marriotts Cove woman, who was behind the wheel of a Mazda CX-5, succumbed at the scene of the incident, according to Cpl. Chris Marshall, a spokesman for the province's RCMP. The woman was the only person in the sport utility vehicle (SUV), Marshall told LighthouseNOW in a telephone call.

Police, paramedics and volunteer fire departments from Western Shore and Chester Basin responded to a straight stretch of Highway 3 around 2:15 p.m., where a sport utility vehicle, Dodge Ram and Volkswagen Golf were involved in multi-vehicle crash.

In a news release, the RCMP described the accident as "head-on." Marshall confirmed the Ram and Golf were travelling in the same direction on Highway 3.

The male driver of the Ram - the vehicle's sole occupant - was taken to hospital by ambulance for further assessment and treatment. His condition was not immediately made available.

The "multiple" occupants of the Golf were not seriously hurt, Marshall said. No further details were made available by police about those individuals.

The communities of residence for those involved in the accident, except for the deceased, were also not available.

It's not immediately clear if any factors have been ruled out in a preliminary examination of the scene.

"The reconstructionists are still trying to build how everything happened," Marshall explained to LighthouseNOW.

A section of Highway 3 near the Gold River Road was closed to motor vehicle traffic for about seven hours as emergency crews worked the scene and police investigated.

Incidents such as these are tough on first responders, Jared Swinemar, Western Shore's deputy fire chief, told LighthouseNOW. A critical incident stress debriefing, which is common in serious matters especially when a death is involved, is being planned.

Firefighters used specialized extrication equipment to remove a door from one of the vehicles involved to free a patient.

"It takes time for the mind to accept what you've seen," Swinemar told LighthouseNOW during a phone call. "But we're first responders; we're there to help the community and protect them. We're still in-service, we're still on-duty."