A female stunt driver was killed Monday morning (that’s today) in a motorcycle crash in downtown Vancouver while working on the set of the new Deadpool movie, as related by the the Vancouver Police Department.
“We are deeply saddened by the accident that occurred on the set of Deadpool 2 this morning,” a 20th Century Fox spokesman said in a statement. “Our hearts and prayers are with the family, friends and colleagues of our crew member during this difficult time.”
The Vancouver Police Department reported it in a terse tweet, as they do with all their incidents and accidents:
A stunt driver has died on the set of Deadpool during a stunt on a motorcycle. VPD & @WorkSafeBC investigators are at the scene.
— Vancouver Police (@VancouverPD) August 14, 2017
The Toronto Star reports that a witness to the accident, Sharmina Kermalli, had just entered a Starbucks. She heard a loud crash, and ran out to see what had happened. Next door she saw a woman lying in the doorway of the building next door. Broken glass was still falling on the woman, Kermalli said.
Stunt person hurt on set of Deadpool 2 loaded into Advanced Life Support ambulance that hasn't moved. Anxious crew looking on. @CTVVancouver pic.twitter.com/iTU2awp7Qs
— Ben Miljure (@CTVNewsBen) August 14, 2017
“I was thinking, what if I was just five seconds (later),” she said, explaining that she had just walked by the spot where the crash happened, a location some distance outside the actual shooting location for the film. The stuntwoman may have lost control of her motorcycle while filming a scene involving a motorcycle crashing through the window of Shaw Tower near Jack Poole Plaza, resulting in the accident.
Today’s accident marks the second on-set death of a stunt performer in North America in about a month; stuntman John Bernecker suffered massive head injuries in a fall July 12 on the set of The Walking Dead and later died at Atlanta Medical Center. That was believed to be the first stunt-related death in the United States in more than 17 years. AMC temporarily halted production on Season 8 of the zombie apocalypse series in the wake of the accident.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) August 14, 2017
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