KAMLOOPS, B.C. — There were no fatal injuries Friday after a commercial transport truck crashed into more than a dozen vehicles on a busy highway in British Columbia's Interior.
RCMP spokeswoman Const. Melissa Wutke said one person with serious but non-life threatening injuries was airlifted to hospital following the crash on the Coquihalla Highway, between Hope and Merritt, B.C.
"A commercial transport vehicle travelling southbound on Highway 5 apparently was unable to stop, and collided with 13 other vehicles," Wutke said in a statement.
#BCHwy5 southbound is OPEN. Expect delays and obey traffic control personnel.
— Drive BC (@DriveBC) August 6, 2016
Six other patients were taken by ambulance in stable condition, BC Emergency Health Services says in a tweet.
The major artery between B.C.'s Interior and the southern coast was cut off southbound while 10 ground ambulances and other emergency vehicles rushed to the scene around 2:30 p.m.
Witness Norm Draeger says it appears that the semi-truck lost its brakes and barrelled down the hill in the southbound lanes. He says vehicles had been stopped on the highway because of construction.
#BCHwy5 Closed southbound between #Merritt and #HopeBC. Estimated opening: 11pm https://t.co/CS4FpyZZ9j pic.twitter.com/eLp8GdBpGK
— Drive BC (@DriveBC) August 6, 2016
"There was wrecked vehicles all over, people all over the road. It was just a mess," Draeger says.
Police and the province's ministry of transportation are now investigating why the truck failed to stop, Wutke said.
The provincial government says Highway 5 southbound was to remain closed at the Box Canyon chain-up area until late Friday night.
Photo: Glen Werstiuk
