The B.C. Coroner’s Service has identified 87-year-old Helena Theodora Van Gool, of Langley, as the patient who died following a collision between an ambulance and a train on Friday, Sept. 11.
The coroner said Van Gool was airlifted to Royal Columbian after the crash but died in hospital later that day. Her family has been notified.
The B.C. Emergency Health Services said paramedics were completing an inter-facility transfer from a Willoughby seniors’ residence to hospital, with Van Gool listed in stable condition before the collision.
Both Van Gool and an ambulance attendant were airlifted to hospital. The paramedic is now listed in stable condition.
The collision happened at 11:22 a.m. at the train crossing at 216 Street and Glover Road.
According to police, the driver of the ambulance is suffering from some back pain but is otherwise uninjured. No personnel on the train were injured.
The CN freight train was northbound at the time of the collision and due to its length, all roads in the area including the Langley ByPass at Glover Road were closed to traffic.
Video of the crash, caught on a driver’s dash cam and posted on YouTube, shows that the back end of the ambulance was on the tracks when the train hit it, spinning the ambulance 180 degrees before the front end smashed into the moving train.
The whistle of the train can be heard blaring before the crash occurred.
The collision remains under investigation by police, the Transportation Safety Board, WorkSafe BC, CP Rail and BC Ambulance Service.
B.C. Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) has launched its own internal investigation.
A statement from Linda Lupini, BCEHS executive vice-president, said they are taking the crash ‘very seriously.’
“Our first thoughts, as an organization dedicated to the care of patients, are of course, with the patient we were transporting
. . . We are also very concerned for the paramedics involved and are offering support to them . . . We are launching an internal investigation as well as fully co-operating with the RCMP and other agencies,” said Lupini on Friday.
Anyone who witnessed the crash and has not yet spoken to police is asked to call Langley RCMP at 604-532-3200.
