Just as B.C.’s Family Day Weekend was getting underway, Highway 93 through Kootenay National Park was closed for more than 12 hours on Saturday, February 15th after a fatal accident occurred just south of Vermillion Crossing around 11:30 a.m.

A 24-year-old Calgary woman is dead and a man of roughly the same age is fighting for his life in Calgary’s Foothills Medical Centre after the late-morning collision between a semi and a car.

The collision occurred after the female driver, who was heading towards Radium Hot Springs, lost control of her 2007 Hyundai and entered the oncoming lane before being struck by an eastbound semi. The driver of the semi was not injured.

At least two STARS Air Ambulance aircraft were dispatched to the crash scene and crews transported an adult male to Calgary. Highway 93 was closed between Radium Hot Springs and the Castle Mountain junction throughout the day. The RCMP’s South East District Traffic Services are now handling the investigation.

The name of the deceased woman is being withheld pending the notification of her next of kin.