An SUV crossed over highway lanes, went through a fence, off an embankment and landed in a parking lot at a Nanaimo strip mall this afternoon.
First responders were called to the scene at Brooks Landing at 1 p.m. to find a Nissan X-Trail which had suffered front-end damage in the crash.
Tammy Gibson, a witness, said she was almost hit by metal and wasn’t injured, but was startled.
“I parked my vehicle, just stepped out of my vehicle, heard an extraordinary loud crash, thought it was on the highway, but actually a car flew through the fence, down into the parking lot and a big metal bar flew at me and scared me, so all I saw the bar coming at me, but there’s the one vehicle in the middle of the parking lot … I thought for sure there was going to be casualties,” Gibson said.
Fence damage at Brooks Landing in #Nanaimo. Witness says car went off highway, down embankment into parking lot. pic.twitter.com/60Ts8acUxi
— Karl Yu (@KarlYuBulletin) June 11, 2019
Orphee Bernard, acting deck captain with Nanaimo Fire Rescue, said the SUV was travelling in the southbound lane on the old Island Highway before the crash. The driver, who was conscious, was being assessed by paramedics before being taken to Nanaimo Regional General Hospital for further assessment and possible treatment.
RCMP was on scene and will be investigating the accident, Bernard said.
For past coverage of car crashes in the area, click here.
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