A man was airlifted from the scene by a BC Emergency Health Services air ambulance Saturday morning after the truck he was driving flipped over on Highway 19, north of the Cumberland exit.
“We were paged to a truck flipped on its side on the highway north of Cumberland with liquid coming out of the truck,” said Cumberland Fire Deputy Chief Stephane Dionne.
The only person inside, the driver was conscious but suffering serious injuries and was unable to free himself from the truck.
“[He was] partially trapped in the vehicle,” added Dionne. “It was a pretty quick, easy extrication. It was just to get access to the patient and slide in the spine board.”
Another concern was the diesel leaking from the truck’s fuel tank.
“We shut down the road on both sides due to the high potential of the fuel,” said Dionne.
It’s unclear what led to the crash but it appears the commercial delivery truck hit the concrete median between the north and southbound lanes and then flipped over.
The truck was empty when it crashed.
An RCMP crash analyst was at the scene investigating.
The victim’s identity has not been released. He was airlifted from the scene and taken to Victoria for treatment.
Dean Stoltz
