Our hearts and condolences go out to everyone who knew the family that was killed in the tragic collision north of McLeese on Thursday.
The event has shaken the entire province, including us here at the Tribune.
We offer our deepest sympathies to those who knew and loved Matt Altizer, his wife Leah and their two children Jonathan and Emily, as well as Matt’s sister, Heather Kress.
Our thoughts are also with the semi-truck driver involved in the accident. We cannot begin to imagine what he, too, must be going through.
We also wish to apologize to those who experienced further hurt while reading some of the details in our online story of the collision.
We had used a direct quote from an RCMP member who described the scene to us while we were attempting to gather details on the collision and what was taking place.
Since then, some have expressed their concern, hurt, and anger for us including some of those details in our online story.
It was certainly not our intention to seem insensitive or to sensationalize the unfolding events, but rather to tell the story as best we could. Those on scene were also experiencing something that has likely left them traumatized, and we felt the quote portrayed that.
While we stand by our reasoning to include those details, out of respect for those who were offended by our online story, we are not including them in today’s print version of the Tribune.
We have no wish to contribute to the pain and anguish many are experiencing as a result of this terrible tragedy.