Truckers survive plunge (7 days ago)

Two Southwestern Ontario truckers were lucky to be alive yesterday, recovering in hospital after their rig tumbled off a bridge near Edmonton, rolling nearly 100 metres to the edge of a rushing river.

The brush with death for Robert Sloane of Woodstock and Raymond Johnston of Chatham came after their tractor-trailer careened down a vertical drop one observer likened to the most frightening slopes on ski mountains.

"It would be a black diamond ski slope," said Yellowhead area fire Chief Cory Chegwyn, who was among the emergency responders.

The river at the point where the semi tumbled lies nearly 100 metres below the bridge deck. The slope averages about 35 degrees.

"It anywhere from bounced to rolled all the way to the riverbed," said Chegwyn.

RCMP Const. Shane Mordeen called the crash "kind of freaky," saying the men have reason for thanks.

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