A crowd of worried people gathered in Ladysmith Tuesday as helicopters landed on a closed Highway 19 following a serious crash that wounded three.
Ladysmith RCMP responded to the crash at 9:50 a.m. and found two badly damaged cars and three occupants being treated by firefighters and paramedics. Two patients were rushed away by air ambulance to Victoria and one was taken by ambulance to Nanaimo’s hospital.
Investigators said it was unclear what led up to the crash, or what directions the cars involved were travelling since there were no witnesses on scene when first responders arrived. All three people involved in the crash were taken away in serious condition.
“Brings back a lot of memories of past accidents I’ve been to and it’s not nice,” said Ladysmith resident Ron Dashwood, a retired firefighter, one of the many people to later arrive on scene.
He served for 34 years responding to crashes like the one in Tuesday’s incident, many at that same intersection of Grouhel Road. The intersection allows both left and right turns onto the four-lane Trans-Canada Highway.
“Yeah, every couple of months there’s some kind of an accident there,” said Dashwood.
According to ICBC there were 34 crashes at the Ladysmith intersection between 2005 and 2019, but the Crown corporation has not revealed if the intersection is now being reviewed.
Meanwhile, everyone involved in Tuesday’s crash is expected to recover.
RCMP are now appealing for witnesses to the crash to come forward.
“Right now we need to speak to people who witnessed it or the occupants of those vehicles,” said Const. Paul Starr.
Highway 19 reopened to traffic at noon Tuesday.
Trans Canada Highway is closed in both directions north of Ladysmith @CHEK_News after multi vehicle crash. Patients are now being loaded into helicopters. Expect lengthy delays. pic.twitter.com/mV10Dcd5SD
— Skye Ryan (@SkyeRyanCHEK) February 23, 2021
Two helicopters, loaded with patients have just taken off. @BCRCMP are re-opening highway to single lane @CHEK_News as investigation at scene continues. Witnesses say the intersection is a bad one for crashes. pic.twitter.com/28GkXOGrPN
— Skye Ryan (@SkyeRyanCHEK) February 23, 2021