A fatal multi-vehicle crash snarled traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway near Ladysmith Saturday.
The major motor vehicle incident occurred in the northbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway at Oyster Sto-Lo Road, about two kilometres north of Ladysmith near the Husky gas station, at around 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Aug. 29.
“We heard a whole bunch of loud bangs and the part we heard the most was the tumbling of the truck,” said Erica Peall who works at the Husky gas station.
“I heard a large thump and it vibrated the whole building,” said Danny Louie who works at the A&W.
According to the BC RCMP, a Ford F-150 pickup truck was travelling southbound on Trans-Canada Highway when it went over the centre median and collided with a northbound SUV. Another pickup truck, which was towing a trailer, was also involved in the crash.
A 35-year-old female, who was the driver of the SUV, died from injuries sustained as a result of the collision according to the North Oyster Volunteer Fire Department and the BC RCMP. BC Coroners Service is currently investigating.
RCMP are currently searching for the driver of the Ford F-150 pickup truck that struck the SUV. RCMP say the driver, a male, fled the scene on foot and is believed to have stolen a nearby vehicle.
The collision forced the closure of the northbound lanes of the Trans-Canada Highway for hours. Traffic is now down to a single-lane and alternating, according to Drive BC.
RELATED: RCMP seek male suspect who fled scene of fatal crash near Ladysmith
Florian Schulz, fire chief with North Oyster Volunteer Fire Department, said crews attended the scene at around 8:30 a.m. and left by 11 a.m. He said debris, which included the engine block from the Ford F-150 that had struck the SUV, was scattered as far away as 500 feet.
“It looked pretty bad and based on the outcome, it was pretty bad,” Schulz said.
Schulz said one pickup truck that was towing a trailer avoided hitting the two other vehicles by swerving and hitting a light pole. He said the two occupants inside were treated for minor injuries.
“I believe they swerved to avoid what was happening and collided with a post and traffic light,” he said. “It certainly looked like they swerved and avoided most of the bad stuff.”
The collision occurred near a Husky gas station, which Schulz said allowed crews to detour vehicles and prevented the entire highway from being shutdown.
“Because of the location of where it occurred, we rerouted traffic the whole time through the gas station, so we never had the highway completely blocked off,” he said.
Schulz said people need to slow down and get to where they are going safely.
“It’s busy out on the roads. It’s a weekend and near the end of summer, so everybody is excited, I get it, but this collision certainly did not have a good outcome,” he said.
Currently at the scene of a serious crash north of #Ladysmith on the TransCanada highway at Oyster Sto-Lo Rd. Multiple vehicles involved but no information on victims at this time. Traffic is slow in the area and there is a detour for NB traffic at the scene. ?@CHEK_News? pic.twitter.com/ngiLJx0ruq
— Dean Stoltz (@deanstoltzchek) August 29, 2020
#BCHwy1 – NB Vehicle incident at Sampson Way in the #Ladysmith area has northbound lanes blocked. Crews are on scene, expect heavy delays in the area. pic.twitter.com/TOxoZQmSTb
— DriveBC (@DriveBC) August 29, 2020
Hello Jim, northbound lanes could be closed for up to five hours today so expect heavy delays in the area. We will update as soon as we hear anything new.
— DriveBC (@DriveBC) August 29, 2020
Dean Stoltz
Nicholas Pescod
