1 dead, more than 50 injured after tent collapses at Buddhist meditation centre north of Edmonton

One person is dead and more than 50 others were injured after a tent collapsed at a Buddhist meditation centre Wednesday evening in a small community northwest of Edmonton.

RCMP say a structure collapsed in severe weather around 5:30 p.m. MT at the Westlock Meditation Centre in Busby, Alta., about 70 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.

“A severe weather storm came in with some severe winds and at one point the tent structure collapsed on many occupants,” said RCMP Cpl. Troy Savinkoff.

The officer said there were between 100 and 200 people in the tent at the time. Several suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital. At least 50 more suffered minor injuries, Savinkoff said.

One person was killed, he said.

Savinkoff described the scene as “organized chaos.”

“This is a real tragic incident,” Savinkoff said. “We have one dead person. We’ve got some serious injuries. It’s going to be a long time before people recover both emotionally and physically.”

The centre was scheduled to host an 11-day-long retreat starting on Thursday. 

Alberta Public Safety Minister Mike Ellis posted on X, formerly Twitter, stating that a tent collapsed and multiple EMS responded to the incident.

Area was under thunderstorm watch

“We are aware of an event in the Westlock area where a tent has collapsed and has required multiple EMS and first responders,” wrote Ellis.

“There is limited information at this time but Alberta’s government is there to support our first responders during this difficult situation.”

The Westlock area was under a severe thunderstorm watch Wednesday evening. 

RCMP say Occupational Health and Safety have investigators on site. The RCMP is also investigating the incident.