Authorities are investigating the circumstances behind a collision involving a train and a pickup truck Tuesday that resulted in a 27-year-old Armstrong man being airlifted to hospital.
Sicamous RCMP received word of the incident on March 18 at approximately 2:40 p.m.
Sgt. Dave Dubnyk said investigating officers found a Dodge pickup sitting partially on the railroad tracks near Solsqua Road, about eight kilometres east of Sicamous. The train had hit the truck, crumpling the vehicle’s bed.
“The early stages of the investigation indicate the truck was initially travelling eastbound on Highway 1 when it left the roadway and became lodged on the tracks,” said Dubnyk. “The train crew was able to apply the brakes, thereby slowing it down considerably prior to the impact.”
Canadian Pacific spokesperson Salem Woodrow said the train crew sounded the horn to alert the truck’s driver, but was unable to stop the train in time, adding it can take up to mile or more for a train to stop.
RCMP, CP Rail police, BC Ambulance paramedics and the Eagle Valley Rescue Society arrived quickly on the scene and the driver, the truck’s only occupant, was airlifted to hospital in Kamloops with undetermined injuries.
None of the CP crew was injured.
Woodrow says CP’s police services continue to investigate the incident, and is not releasing any further information regarding the injured person’s identity.
