A man in a wheelchair was airlifted to hospital with serious injuries after being struck by pickup truck driver in Nanaimo, say police.
According to the Nanaimo RCMP, the driver of a Ford Ranger struck a male pedestrian in a wheelchair near the intersection of Railway Avenue and Fifth Street at around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
The man, who was in his early 60s, suffered serious injuries and was eventually airlifted to hospital in Vancouver.
The driver of the Ford Ranger, a female in her 60s, was with another passenger, who was unharmed, at the time of the incident.
Mounties say that based on eyewitness accounts and evidence at the scene, the driver of the Ranger was travelling eastbound on Fifth Street and had just driven up a crest in the roadway when they struck the man in the wheelchair.
The victim, say Mounties, was travelling adjacent to railway tracks that cross over Fifth Street and was not in a marked crosswalk at the time of the incident.
Both individuals remained at the scene and cooperated with investigators and alcohol and excessive speed have been ruled out as contributing factors, say Mounties.
The Ranger has since been impounded and will undergo a mechanical inspection. Nanaimo RCMP are asking anyone who may have witnessed the collision and has not already spoken with investigators to contact their non-emergency line at 250-754-2345, and quote file # 2022-34403.
CHEK News
