Nearly thirty people were injured and more than a hundred left stranded last night following a pileup crash involving multiple semi trucks, buses, and passenger vehicles on an icy stretch of Coquihalla Highway in Hope, British Columbia.
The pileup occurred around 8 p.m. At least two semi trucks, two buses, and two passenger vehicles collided on Coquihalla Highway during winter weather conditions. According to Hope Volunteer Search and Rescue, four semi trucks, three buses, and seventeen passenger vehicles were involved in the pileup crash at the bottom of a hill north of Hope.
Several Seriously Injured In Chain Reaction Crash
Twenty-nine people were transported to the hospital. Seven of those people were listed in serious condition. No fatalities were reported.
The crash left another 136 people uninjured but stranded. They were later transported to a nearby school to warm up.
RCMP Const. Mike Halskov told CBC that on a scale of one to ten “I would rank this one as an 11 as far as the number of vehicles and people involved. It’s a very significant crash. With the sheer number of people involved, trying to identify everybody, what vehicle they’re associated to … it’s fairly complex, that’s for sure.”
Greyhound has confirmed that two of their buses were involved in the pileup.
Pileup on Coquihalla Highway involving two buses sends 29 to hospital https://t.co/ok0fZG41h5 pic.twitter.com/JhrQjXXd4H
— Calgary Sun (@calgarysun) February 26, 2018
The cause of the pileup is still under investigation, but RCMP says that weather was a major factor.
A portion of Coquihalla Highway was closed in both directions between Hope and Merritt for nearly 12 hours, but transportation officials were able to reopen the highway by 8:30 a.m. today.