Edmonton community mourns 3 mothers killed in crash by stolen truck

Family and friends stood sobbing outside a home in southeast Edmonton Saturday, grieving three mothers killed in a car crash.

The women died Friday morning after a driver in a stolen truck smashed into their minivan near Lloydminster, Sask.

Glorious Blamo, 35, and Eva Fatu Tumbay, 37, died at the scene. Each woman has four young children in Edmonton.

Jeanette Wright, 53, died later from her injuries. Her niece, 32-year-old Janet Wright Gaye, was airlifted to hospital in Edmonton.

Gaye's father, Kanton Wright, said she remains in critical condition.

"This whole thing is so devastating, it's so heartbreaking and we just pray that the Lord will give us strength to go through it," Wright said.

"It bleeds my heart to even think about all these children having to go through life without their mothers."

His younger sister, Jeanette Wright, had three children. She was also a mother-like figure to the Liberian community in Edmonton, Wright said.

"I haven't processed how life will be without her," he said. "We will stand strong and be there for her children, we will do everything to support them, to give them comfort and whatever else that they may need."

All four women attended the Solid Rock International Ministries of Edmonton, which Blamo helped found with her husband.

Cars lined the street outside her home Saturday, as more than 100 people gathered to comfort each other.

"If something happens to one person, it happens to the whole community," Bumbeh said. "We rally together, we stand by each other in a situation like this and there has been overwhelming support."