Serious crash on the Coquihalla
Posted Aug 5, 2016 3:13 pm.
Last Updated Aug 5, 2016 8:31 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
HOPE (NEWS 1130) – A serious accident involving a semi and multiple other cars on the Coquihalla has the highway shut down south bound.
It happened between Hope and the summit, near Box Canyon.
“I saw a semi truck was just smashed to pieces against two cars. There was numerous rear-enders. Cars were turned sideways all over the highway,” says Larry, a witness who called the newsroom.
Larry drove by going north and says there are countless rear-enders in addition to the original accident.
“It looked to me, in just the aftershock of the crashes, probably like 50 cars (were involved) at least.”
BC Emergency Health Services spokeswoman Preet Grewal says two air ambulances and 10 ground ambulances responded around 2:30 p.m.
She says one patient was transported by air ambulance and paramedics are still on scene.
“A commercial transport vehicle traveling southbound on Highway 5 apparently was unable to stop, and collided with 13 other vehicles,” says Cst. Melissa Wutke, spokesperson for BC RCMP Traffic Services.
“Fortunately, there have not been any fatalities. One person has been airlifted to hospital with serious but not life threatening injuries.”
But she says that because of the number of vehicles, police anticipate it will take some time for the route to re-open and drivers northbound may be impacted.
