A vehicle that hit an apartment building on Edmonton’s north side Monday night sparked a fire that left one person dead, another five taken to hospital with injuries and forced evacuation of the entire building.
A Tuesday morning statement from the Edmonton Police Service confirmed that the individual who died was a resident in one of the apartments in the three-story building, located near 132nd Avenue and 82nd Street.
The driver of the vehicle has been taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said in the statement.
Reports indicate that “a car left the road, struck the building and hit a gas line on the outside of the building,” a city spokesperson told CBC News on Tuesday morning.
Five people were taken from the scene to a hospital, according to a spokesperson from Acute Care Alberta.
Fire crews were called to the building at 9:19 p.m. on Monday. When firefighters arrived four minutes later, a second alarm was called shortly thereafter and more resources were deployed to the scene, a city spokesperson told CBC News on Monday night.
The first floor of the building houses businesses and the upper two floors are apartment units. The spokesperson said the entire building had been evacuated.
Police said the Red Cross was on scene to assist displaced residents.
Fire crews continued to fight the fire Tuesday morning, and Edmonton police said they are still “working to locate and identify residents of the building who are unaccounted for.”
Police on Tuesday said 82nd Street remains closed in all directions between 131st and 133rd avenues
