The Sea to Sky Highway has reopened south of Whistler, B.C. following a multi-vehicle crash on Wednesday morning.
B.C. Emergency Health Services said 10 people were taken to hospital following the crash.
“Five ambulances with primary care paramedics responded to the scene,” public information officer for BCEHS, Brian Twaites, said.
“Paramedics provided emergency medical treatment to 10 patients in total. Two patients were transported by ground ambulances to meet air ambulance helicopters and then transported to hospital in critical condition under the care of critical care paramedics. Eight additional patients were transported to hospital in stable condition via ground ambulance.”
Drive BC said the multi-vehicle crash happened near the McGuire Road exit around 10 a.m.
Nicole Eastman was on her way to Whistler and was about 20 minutes away when traffic came to a halt.
“I stopped and after waiting for a while and realising that traffic wasn’t moving, I got out of my car and myself, and then another lady decided to walk down and see what was going on,” Eastman told Global News.
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“And that’s when I saw the scene of the accident – looked like it hadn’t happened too long ago. The emergency services were in the process of assisting the people from the vehicles when we walked up front.”
She said one of the vehicles, a passenger van, was on its side and it looked like there were multiple passengers inside, all being helped out through the windshield.
“The emergency services actually had them sitting in the private vehicles of other people nearby, just to keep warm,” Eastman added.
“I saw one person in the car who looked like they were in shock, and another person walking around and after, you know, I took a look and then left to respect everyone’s privacy.”
The highway was closed between Callaghan Valley Road and Brew Creek Road and traffic was blocked in both directions, according to Drive BC.
Eastman said she understands that roads need to be closed for first responders but it was frustrating how long the road was closed.
“Most of the incident was contained within the southbound lane, and there was enough room that one lane of traffic could have gone through,” she said. “So really frustrating that they weren’t able to let at least one lane and some vehicles pass through along the side while the investigation has been occurring.”
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