Car's plunge off Disraeli fatal

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Emergency crews and construction workers at the scene where a vehicle crashed through a railing on the Disraeli Bridge and fell on the shore of the Red River Wednesday. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS )

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Construction workers use their crane to raise an overturned vehicle that crashed through a railing on the Disraeli Bridge. (WAYNE GLOWACKI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

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(KEN GIGLIOTTI / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)

For an instant, it was as if the SUV was paused in the air, time frozen before it made its sudden plunge.

It was just a trick of the mind, a collusion of adrenaline and horror; but it was a sight that, for witnesses to a shocking Wednesday-afternoon accident on the Disraeli Bridge, was impossible to erase.

The crash sent a 19-year-old female driver, the lone occupant of the SUV, to hospital, where she was later declared dead, a source told the Free Press. Winnipeg police confirmed Wednesday night an adult female died in the crash.

As the wreckage was cleared away, shaken witnesses struggled to describe the horrifying chain of events that sent the purple SUV careening over the guardrail of the Disraeli Bridge and plummeting to the banks of the Red River.

"I don't want to see anything like that ever again," said Bruce Foster, who was driving only a few metres behind the SUV when the accident occurred, and grabbed his phone to dial 911. The sight left him "shaking like a leaf," he said.

At almost exactly 2:30 p.m., Foster was driving south on the Disraeli, crawling along at 40 kilometres per hour on the slick bridge's right lane, when he noticed the SUV cruising past him in the left lane.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the driver of the SUV lost control and slid into another vehicle. Foster pulled to a stop and watched as the SUV struck the median, spun and slid into the back end of a truck in front of Foster. For a moment, he locked eyes with the driver; he thought the SUV would come to a stop.

Instead, the SUV leaped forward and slammed into the guardrail on the west side of the bridge, striking two of the metal rail panels head-on. The rail collapsed and the SUV flew over the edge of the bridge, its wheels turning up to the sky.

A split-second later, the vehicle landed roof-down on the riverbank with a sickening bang.

Although it's not clear why the SUV appeared to accelerate, Foster guessed the driver may have accidentally hit the gas pedal as she tried to stop her skid.

"I think she panicked. She should have come to a stop right there (when she hit the second car)," he said.

"I can't get her face out of my mind."

After the crash, witnesses peered over the edge and watched as construction workers with PCL, who were working on the ongoing overhaul of the bridge, approached the wreckage and tried in silence to assist the victim.

Within minutes, dozens of rescue vehicles converged on nearby Talbot Avenue, near a path to the riverbank. After labouring for about 40 minutes and using the Jaws of Life, firefighters and paramedics were able to extricate the woman from the vehicle.

Near the riverbank, Blaine Stead braced against the frigid -36 wind chill and watched as rescuers hustled the woman, bundled onto a stretcher, into the back of an ambulance.

Stead and his son were driving on the Disraeli when he saw the SUV sail over the edge of the bridge. He thinks the SUV may have struck an old bump in the road before it skidded out of control.

The road conditions were "just like glass," Stead said. "Everybody was sliding all over the place."

Indeed, Wednesday's snowfall and bracing cold saw the city's roads become treacherous. While the Disraeli's southbound lanes remained closed for hours as police investigated the accident, callers flooded afternoon radio shows with reports of fender-benders.

Only a few minutes north of the Disraeli Bridge accident, another crash reportedly closed one northbound lane of Henderson Highway.

Still reeling from what he had seen, Foster urged Winnipeggers to be mindful of the slippery surfaces. "I just wish people would slow down when the conditions are bad," he said. "That (accident) did not have to happen."

Foster also called on the city to examine the condition of the rails that crumpled and fell when the SUV struck them. "I don't know why they can't make those rails a little stronger. It failed pretty quick," he said. "I know those bridge rails could be made stronger."

In the aftermath of the crash, some Winnipeggers wondered if construction on the bridge could have contributed to the tragedy. But city spokeswoman Tammy Melesko said there were no traffic detours at the spot where the accident occurred.

-- with files from Jen Skerritt

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition January 19, 2012 A3