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One person dead after vehicle falls into Clearwater River

Jul 25, 2018 | 4:14 PM

One person is dead after their pickup truck plummeted down an embankment in a rural area of Clearwater County on Wednesday morning.

Rocky Mountain House RCMP says the truck landed in the Clearwater River and no other vehicles were involved in the incident.

At 3 a.m., Mounties were made aware that the International Emergency Response Coordination Centre had received a call for help on Highway 734. The call was from a witness who said they saw a truck with a lone occupant leave the roadway.

“The RCMP, with the assistance of Rocky Mountain House Search and Rescue, Fire Rescue and special tow trucks have all worked together to recover the truck and the deceased driver,” says Corporal Laurel Scott.

STARS Air Ambulance was called into the area near Peppers Lake at about 5 a.m., but was told to stand down before arriving to the area.

“Given the terrain and the location of the truck, it took almost twelve hours for all agencies to remove the truck from its position in the river,” the release continues.

As of 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, fire crews, RCMP and Search and Rescue crews are still on scene.

Scott says the identity of the driver will not be released.