CALGARY -- A sudden, violent windstorm Saturday night appears responsible for the death of a child walking by the Calgary Tower after a piece of construction debris landed on a group of people.Paramedics said a three-year-old girl was killed, and a man and a seven-year-old boy were injured when they were struck by building materials in downtown Calgary.
The three had been walking together near the Calgary Tower at the time.
A fire department official said the material fell from as high as 40 metres.
"It (the sheet metal) flew from the building under construction . . . and into the group of people," said fire department spokeswoman Deb Bergeson.
"It probably would have been something they wouldn't have seen coming."
The man, in his mid-to-late 30s, was taken to hospital and the seven-year-old was transported to Alberta Children's Hospital.
Their injuries were non-life threatening, said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux.
Firefighters secured the construction site and emergency crews shut down the street.
The incident, which occurred around 8 p.m., was seen by a crowd of horrified onlookers.
"This piece of the building fell off, blew across the street and I'm like ‘Oh, my God,' " said Lorne Markham, 27, who was just getting out of a cab when the wind came up. "We ran there (to the scene), we were running. . . . The screaming and yelling was too much."
Witness Dan Grandan said he was about a block away when incident occurred. He said the air was calm and then suddenly it was like a hurricane.
"It was physically moving me," he said. "It was crazy for five minutes and then died down."
He also saw some of the aftermath. A piece of sheet metal — which he described as steel decking about three metres by 1.5 metres — lay crumpled on the ground.
Another witness, identifying himself only as Richard, said he saw a woman running toward the body, but police held her back.
The tragedy was one of several chaotic scenes that resulted from surprisingly powerful wind gusts that hit the city Saturday night.
More than 3,000 Calgarians were out of power thanks to the sudden windstorm.
"We had several areas out of power where trees came down on power lines. There are still a couple areas without power," Enmax spokesperson Natika Sunstrum said about an hour after the winds descended on the city.
At least 1,200 customers in southwest Calgary and 1,700 in southeast Calgary saw their power shut off thanks to the storm, said Sunstrum. Calgary's 911 call centre was also flooded with calls of downed trees and other materials that had blown across streets, said Bergeson.
"The weather changed very dramatically," she said. "Several trees were toppled, construction material was flying around, power outages and (debris causing) generally unsafe conditions."
Winds started to pick up in Calgary around 7:45 p.m. and by about 8 p.m. the Calgary airport was reporting winds of 78 kilometres an hour, said Environment Canada meteorologist Andy Yun.
The wind storm soon moved on. By 9 p.m. the airport was reporting a nice breeze, but nothing more substantial, said Yun.
The three had been walking together near the Calgary Tower at the time.
A fire department official said the material fell from as high as 40 metres.
"It (the sheet metal) flew from the building under construction . . . and into the group of people," said fire department spokeswoman Deb Bergeson.
"It probably would have been something they wouldn't have seen coming."
The man, in his mid-to-late 30s, was taken to hospital and the seven-year-old was transported to Alberta Children's Hospital.
Their injuries were non-life threatening, said EMS spokesman Stuart Brideaux.
Firefighters secured the construction site and emergency crews shut down the street.
The incident, which occurred around 8 p.m., was seen by a crowd of horrified onlookers.
"This piece of the building fell off, blew across the street and I'm like ‘Oh, my God,' " said Lorne Markham, 27, who was just getting out of a cab when the wind came up. "We ran there (to the scene), we were running. . . . The screaming and yelling was too much."
Witness Dan Grandan said he was about a block away when incident occurred. He said the air was calm and then suddenly it was like a hurricane.
"It was physically moving me," he said. "It was crazy for five minutes and then died down."
He also saw some of the aftermath. A piece of sheet metal — which he described as steel decking about three metres by 1.5 metres — lay crumpled on the ground.
Another witness, identifying himself only as Richard, said he saw a woman running toward the body, but police held her back.
The tragedy was one of several chaotic scenes that resulted from surprisingly powerful wind gusts that hit the city Saturday night.
More than 3,000 Calgarians were out of power thanks to the sudden windstorm.
"We had several areas out of power where trees came down on power lines. There are still a couple areas without power," Enmax spokesperson Natika Sunstrum said about an hour after the winds descended on the city.
At least 1,200 customers in southwest Calgary and 1,700 in southeast Calgary saw their power shut off thanks to the storm, said Sunstrum. Calgary's 911 call centre was also flooded with calls of downed trees and other materials that had blown across streets, said Bergeson.
"The weather changed very dramatically," she said. "Several trees were toppled, construction material was flying around, power outages and (debris causing) generally unsafe conditions."
Winds started to pick up in Calgary around 7:45 p.m. and by about 8 p.m. the Calgary airport was reporting winds of 78 kilometres an hour, said Environment Canada meteorologist Andy Yun.
The wind storm soon moved on. By 9 p.m. the airport was reporting a nice breeze, but nothing more substantial, said Yun.
