Canadian rescuers rush to a remote part of Banff park following reports that a rock slide hit hikers
'The initial report indicated there were multiple hikers and there may be serious injuries and/or fatalities,' Royal Canadian Mounted Police Cpl. Gina Slaney said in a news release.
Parks Canada said in a statement that it is responding to a report of 'a serious rockfall incident with involvement near Bow Glacier Falls in Banff National Park.'
The site is north of Lake Louise on the Icefields Parkway, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) northwest of Calgary. It is also about 137 kms (85 miles) away from where leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump met at the Group of Seven Summit in Kananaskis, Alberta this week.
Temporary road closures were expected on the Icefields Parkway near Bow Lake in order to allow responders to work. Parks Canada has asked visitors to avoid the area.
STARS Air Ambulance spokeswoman Kate Langille said two of its units were deployed around 2 p.m. She said the organization would have more to say after crews returned to their bases in Edmonton and Calgary.
The Bow Glacier Falls hiking trail is a 9-kilometer (six mile) route open year-round, running along the edges of Bow Lake.
It's considered a moderate challenge for hikers and day-trippers include families.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said she was deeply saddened.
'We are thinking of all those involved and wishing for their safety as we await further details,' she said in a post on social media.
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5 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump says 'great to be in Scotland', as he lands for four-day trip
US president Donald Trump said "it's great to be in Scotland" as he landed for a four-day private visit. After Air Force One touched down at Prestwick Airport, just before 20:30, the US president was met by Scottish Secretary Ian Murray and Warren Stephens, US Ambassador to the UK. Trump spoke to journalists before the presidential motorcade left for his Turnberry resort, in South Ayrshire, where he is expected to play golf on Saturday. Speaking about Sir Keir Starmer, who he is due to meet on Monday, he said: "I like your prime minister. He's slightly more liberal than I am - as you probably heard - but he's a good man. He got a trade deal done." Trump added: "You know, they've been working on this deal for 12 years, he got it done - that's a good deal, it's a good deal for the UK." The president earlier also described Scotland's First Minister John Swinney as "a good man" and said he was looking forward to meeting him. Swinney has pledged to "essentially speak out for Scotland". The motorcade - which contained more than two dozen vehicles - entered Trump's Turnberry golf resort at about 21:30, flanked by Police Scotland vehicles and ambulance crews. As he arrived at the luxury hotel, the president's vehicle - known as The Beast - passed a small group of protesters. Trump will stay at Turnberry over the weekend before heading to his second property in Aberdeenshire, where he will open a new 18-hole course at Menie. He told reporters a late James Bond star played a crucial role in the project. Trump said: "Sean Connery helped get me the permits - if it weren't for Sean Connery we wouldn't have those great courses." In pictures: President Trump arrives in Scotland Recap: Donald Trump lands in Scotland for golf trip and talks What do we know about Donald Trump's visit to Scotland? Trump is expected to meet Starmer and Swinney on Monday while European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed on X that she will meet the president on Sunday to discuss transatlantic trade relations. Trump will travel back to the US on Tuesday and is due to return to the UK for an official state visit in September. A number of protests are expected to be held to coincide with the visit, including demonstrations in Edinburgh and Aberdeen on Saturday. A major security operation has been under way in South Ayrshire and Aberdeenshire this week, ahead of the president's trip. Dozens of officers have also been drafted in to support Police Scotland, under mutual aid arrangements, from other UK forces. Road closures and diversions have been put in place in Turnberry, while a security checkpoint outside the resort and a large fence has been erected around the course. A number of police vans have also been seen at the Menie site. Speaking to journalists at Prestwick, Trump said European countries need to "get your act together" on migration, and "stop the windmills", referring to wind farms. He said: "I say two things to Europe: Stop the windmills. You're ruining your countries. I really mean it, it's so sad. "You fly over and you see these windmills all over the place, ruining your beautiful fields and valleys and killing your birds, and if they're stuck in the ocean, ruining your oceans. "Stop the windmills, and also, I mean, there's a couple of things I could say, but on immigration, you'd better get your act together or you're not going to have Europe anymore." In 2019, his company Trump International lost a long-running court battle to stop a major wind power development being built in the North Sea off Aberdeen. Trump argued that the project, which included 11 wind turbines, would spoil the view from his golf course at Menie. Trump also claimed that illegal migration was an "invasion" which was "killing Europe". He said: "Last month, we (the United States) had nobody entering our country. Nobody. Shut it down. And we took out a lot of bad people that got there with (former US president Joe) Biden. "Biden was a total stiff, and what he allowed to happen.... but you're allowing it to happen to your countries, and you've got to stop this horrible invasion that's happening to Europe; many countries in Europe. "Some people, some leaders, have not let it happen, and they're not getting the proper credit they should. "I could name them to you right now, but I'm not going to embarrass the other ones. "But stop: this immigration is killing Europe." Quizzed on the latest developments with the Epstein files and Ghislaine Maxwell's interview with the Department of Justice, Trump said he had "really nothing to say about it". "A lot of people are asking me about pardons obviously - this is no time to be talking about pardons." He said the media was "making a very big thing out of something that's not a big thing". Earlier, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told reporters the US president's visit to Scotland was in the "national interest". Speaking during a visit to the Rolls-Royce factory, near Glasgow Airport, she said: "The work that our Prime Minister Keir Starmer has done in building that relationship with President Trump has meant that we were the first country in the world to secure a trade deal." Reeves added that it had a "tangible benefit" for people in Scotland, from the Scotch whisky industry to the defence sector." Swinney said his meeting with Trump would present an opportunity to "essentially speak out for Scotland" on issues such as trade and the increase of business from the United States in Scotland. The first minister said he would also raise "significant international issues" including "the awfulness of the situation in Gaza". And he urged those set to protest against the president's visit to do so "peacefully and to do so within the law". Visits to Scotland by sitting US presidents are rare. Queen Elizabeth hosted Dwight D Eisenhower at Balmoral in Aberdeenshire in 1957. George W Bush travelled to Gleneagles in Perthshire for a G8 summit in 2005 and Joe Biden attended a climate conference in Glasgow in 2021. The only other serving president to visit this century is Trump himself in 2018 when he was met by protesters including one flying a paraglider low over Turnberry, breaching the air exclusion zone around the resort. He returned in 2023, two-and-a-half years after he was defeated by Biden. Trump does have a genuine link to Scotland. His Gaelic-speaking mother, Mary Anne MacLeod, was born in 1912 on the island of Lewis in Scotland's Outer Hebrides and left during the Great Depression for New York where she married property developer Fred Trump. Their son's return to Scotland for four days this summer comes ahead of an official state visit from 17-19 September when the president and First Lady Melania Trump will be hosted by King Charles at Windsor Castle in Berkshire. Trump takes time out to open Scottish golf course Donald Trump and the Scots: A not-so special relationship Donald Trump's mother: From a Scottish island to New York's elite
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Trump to hit Scottish links as protesters set to rally
US President Donald Trump was expected to play golf on the first full day of his visit to Scotland Saturday, as protesters prepared to take to the streets across the country. Trump's arrival at his Turnberry resort has turned this picturesque and normally quiet area of southwest Scotland into a virtual fortress, with roads closed and police checkpoints in place. Officers on quad bikes, police sniffer dogs and horses patrolled the storied links -- which has hosted four men's British Opens -- and its adjacent sandy beaches and grass dunes that hug the course. The 79-year-old leader touched down at nearby Prestwick Airport on Friday evening, as hundreds of curious onlookers came out to see Air Force One and try to catch a glimpse of its famous passenger. The 45th and 47th president has professed a love of Scotland, where his mother was born, but has controversial politics and business investments in the country have made for an uneasy relationship. Unsurprisingly, his five-day visit has divided the local community. "A lot of people don't trust Trump and I'm one of them. I think the man is a megalomaniac," retiree Graham Hodgson told AFP. "He's so full of himself. I think he's doing a lot of damage worldwide with his tariffs. And I think it's all for the sake of America, but at the moment I think America is playing the price as well for his policies." But at Prestwick Airport a boy held a sign that read "Welcome Trump" while a man waved a flag emblazoned with Trump's most famous slogan -- "Make America Great Again". "I think the best thing about Trump is he's not actually a politician yet he's the most powerful man in the world and I think he's looking at the best interests of his own country," said 46-year-old Lee McLean, who had travelled from nearby Kilmarnock. "Most politicians should really be looking at the best interests of their own country first before looking overseas, which unfortunately most leaders of the world actually do," he told AFP. Trump's visit has seen Police Scotland embark on a massive security operation in which it has asked for support from other forces around the UK to bolster officer numbers. The Stop Trump Coalition has announced demonstrations near the US consulate in the Scottish capital Edinburgh and another in Aberdeen, where Trump owns another golf resort, for Saturday. Police will also be monitoring any other protests that might spring up near Turnberry. With no public meetings in the diary for Saturday, Trump was expected to jump in his golf cart and play what he called Friday "the best course anywhere in the world". He is due to discuss trade with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday and is also due to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer while in Scotland. pdh/har/ach
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I love standing on the soil of Scotland, Donald Trump says after landing in country
DONALD Trump has said he 'loves standing on the soil of Scotland' after landing in the country on Friday evening, according to the Scottish Secretary. Ian Murray told the PA news agency what the US President's first words were after disembarking from Air Force One in Prestwick. The UK Government minister was the first person to greet the president in Scotland as he begins his four day visit to the country. Speaking after meeting the American leader, Murray told PA: 'The president came off the flight, and I said, 'Mr president, welcome to Scotland – the home country of your dear mother', and he said, 'It's great to be here, I always love standing on the soil of Scotland'. READ MORE: LIVE: Updates as protesters rally against Donald Trump in Scotland 'I said, 'I hope you're looking forward to a bit of downtime with some golf this weekend', and he said, 'Yes'. And I said, 'Well, we've whipped up a bit of a wind for you to make it a bit more competitive', and he went, 'I'm looking forward to it'.' Murray said Trump was given a 'warm reception' as he got off his presidential plane. Hundreds gathered on the Mound overlooking Prestwick Airport for the president's arrival. A Trump flag was flown while a few spectators wore 'Make America Great Again' hats, although many of those attending were locals and aviation enthusiasts, including some who had travelled from England. Murray said: 'Spotters hills, as it's called, where all the plane spotters come to Prestwick, was absolutely full. 'You could see that from the tarmac and as Air Force One came in, people were snapping away on their photographs. 'To see all that happening is quite a spectacle in itself. 'It's really good to have that kind of focus on Scotland.' Trump will meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his trip to discuss the UK-US trade deal as Britain hopes to be spared from the president's tariff regime. The Scottish Secretary said: 'Really, the purpose of this weekend, the purpose of greeting the president off the plane, the purpose of the Prime Minister's relationship with the president is to build that close relationship, to make sure that that old alliance is nurtured, and to do that for the benefit of the national interest, which is about jobs and growth here in the UK, and particularly Scotland.' Trump will meet Scottish First Minister John Swinney during his trip as he opens a new golf course in Aberdeenshire. (Image: PA) Before flying to Prestwick, Trump said in Washington that he was 'looking forward' to meeting Swinney, describing him as a 'good man' – the same phrase he used for the Prime Minister after landing in Scotland. Asked about the president's relationship with the UK, Murray said: 'The Prime Minister has taken a very pragmatic approach to the relationship with the president of the United States, because it's in our national interest to do so, whether it be on defence, security, trade, cultural, historic ties. 'It's a historic alliance, and that alliance has to be nurtured and continue through to the future, because it's quite clear that our relationship with United States is good for jobs and growth here in Scotland and across the UK. 'The Prime Minister knows that, and knows that working very closely with the US is in our national interest.' Asked about protests, which are expected across the country, Murray said people had a right to demonstrate, adding: 'Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly and freedom to protest is a key cornerstone of both countries, America and the UK, and the right to be able to protest if they so wish to so.'
