The drivers of two pickup trucks are in hospital following a collision that closed the Island Highway in south Nanaimo Wednesday morning, Aug. 1.
The collision between two full-size pickup trucks happened at about 4:30 a.m. at the intersection of the Island Highway and Cranberry Avenue.
According to Nanaimo RCMP, the crash happened when one pickup travelling southbound collided with the other pickup making a left turn onto Cranberry Avenue.
Cpl. Terry Crawford, head of Nanaimo RCMP Traffic Services, said one of the drivers suffered minor injuries, but the other driver’s injuries were serious and both men were taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital.
The impact caused one of the vehicles to roll over and spread debris and wreckage over all four lanes of the highway.
Firefighters had to extricate one of the drivers from his vehicle.
“We’ll follow up with him this afternoon and make sure he’s on the mend. He’s going to have some pretty substantial injuries, but I think he’ll pull through,” Crawford said.
The corporal said the highway was closed from about 5 to 7:30 a.m.
“One vehicle went into the northbound lanes and the other vehicle rolled into the side of the southbound lanes, so the whole intersection was a mess,” he said.
Police are continuing to investigate the the cause of the collision and Crawford said it is too early to make any determination about possible charges to either of the drivers.
“There was no indication of impairment or anything like that,” Crawford said.
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