Criminal investigation into fatal Kelowna crane collapse ongoing

It’s been two months since five people were killed when a crane collapsed in downtown Kelowna.

Today, during a media briefing, Kelowna RCMP Supt. Kara Triance briefly touched on the multiple ongoing investigations into the devastating incident.

"We want to acknowledge the loss in our community at the beginning of the summer when we saw one of the largest accidents in recent history as it pertains to workplace fatalities,” she said.

"It's an extremely active investigation still, with both the criminal investigation of criminal negligence causing death as well as the concurrent WorkSafeBC investigation."

Triance added that the RCMP is working closely with WorkSafeBC to ensure they can conduct their investigation, but the technical components will take some time to sort through.

"It's going to take a long time to advance this file, this case,” Triance explained.

"The full findings and determination don't have a clear timeline attached to them, but we're committed to ensuring the investigational avenues are fully explored.”

Jared Zook, Cailen Vilness and brothers Patrick and Eric Stemmer were all killed while working on site during the crane collapse on July 12.

A fifth victim, Brad Zawislak, died when the crane crashed through the nearby office building he was working in at the time.

In the hours and days following the fatal collapse, Instagram stories from Patrick Stemmer that were taken that day from the crane’s cab started to surface online.

The criminal negligence causing death investigation is surely looking into that video footage and other factors that could have contributed to the accident.