Tuesday, September 7, 2010

WE ARE THE UNION SUFFERS WEEKEND ACCIDENT

Tragedy Strikes Fellow Motorist WATU's van after the accident

Detroit, MI – Over Labor Day weekend while many Americans were enjoying the pool and barbecues, Detroit’s WE ARE THE UNION were driving across Canada on their North American tour supporting Strung Out and Rufio. On Saturday at around 5:30AM CST on Highway 16, near Langham, Saskatchewan, We Are The Union was on the way to the next stop of the tour when the band hit a moose on the highway. Not only wrecking their van and trailer, the moose was knocked into an adjacent lane, where moments later a passenger vehicle struck the carcass and crashed, ejecting both occupants from the car. One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, as reported by Canada’s CBC News (http://tinyurl.com/watu-crash).

We Are The Union vocalist/guitarist Reed Wolcott recounted the incident on Punknews.org over the weekend:

“Well, right after the wreck, the moose was in the right lane and we were in the shoulder. We sat there for one or two minutes in disbelief, then after seeing two cars and a semi hit the carcass and almost wipe-out, Matt [Belanger, trombone] grabbed a flashlight and started signaling cars to get over into the left lane. We managed to get everyone to move over and slow down until the pickup came along. Matt tried to signal it with a flashlight to get over and slow down, but they must have been going 20 over [the speed limit]. They hit it and spun 180 degrees, slid across both lanes, hit the grass median and started rolling. Some of the other guys saw two bodies fly from the truck. A bunch of us ran over to see if they could help, I grabbed a flashlight and spent the next 20 minutes trying to convince myself that the screams I was hearing from the wreck weren't coming from a person, signaling cars to get in the right lane until the police showed up to block the freeway.

We appreciate everyone helping us out with donations to get us back on our feet and the sympathy, but the only tragedy here is the two people who lost a family member this morning. We're all okay, trying to figure out a way to continue the tour. Don't worry about us. Worry about them."

With the help of family, friends and fans, We Are The Union is determined to stay on the road and finish out the tour. Donations can be made via PayPal to the email address watubooking@gmail.com.

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