BC Highway Patrol (BCHP) says an unmarked police vehicle was flipped onto its roof following a two-vehicle crash along the Trans-Canada Highway in Ladysmith over the weekend.
The collision happened around 11:50 a.m. Saturday, June 1, at the intersection of the Trans-Canada Highway and Edgelow Road, resulting in injuries to both drivers, says BCHP in a news release.
The police vehicle, a dark SUV, was seen on its roof in a ditch after colliding with a red van.
BCHP media relations officer Cpl. Melissa Jongema says investigators told her the two drivers were the only ones involved in the collision, and their injuries were minor.
“I don’t have any info beyond that,” Jongema told CHEK News Tuesday.
BC Emergency Health Services says paramedics arrived via two ambulances.
“Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to two patients who were transported to hospital,” said Brian Twaites, a paramedic public information officer.
Police seeking video footage
Jongema says BCHP is actively investigating the collision and asking anyone with dashcam or video footage of the incident, which has been circulating on social media, to come forward.
“There’s a lot of cell phone footage out there of this collision,” she said. “We know that it’s out there. People are posting it.”
Jongema couldn’t say what caused the two vehicles to collide.
“(Police are) still looking into it. They want to investigate it, get the dashcams, cell phone video and put everything together. There are always a lot of sides to one story, so I don’t want to say anything that doesn’t show the full picture from every perspective,” she added.
Photos sent to CHEK News showed police and fire crews on scene.
On Saturday, DriveBC tweeted that the highway’s southbound lanes were closed at Edgelow due to the collision, so drivers were urged to expect major delays. All lanes were back open by 4 p.m.
Anyone with footage of the collision is asked to contact BCHP in Duncan by emailing [email protected] or calling 250-276-2751.
(Photo: Norine Peaker)
Ethan Morneau
