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Rockslide hits Highway 3 west of Keremeos: ‘There were rocks everywhere’

A Princeton, B.C., resident took this photo of a boulder blocking a lane shortly after Friday night’s rockslide along Highway 3 west of Keremeos. Facebook: Ashlin White

A Princeton resident was among the first people to witness the after-effects of Friday night’s rockslide along Highway 3 west of Keremeos.

Ashlin White told Global News on Saturday that she was driving along Highway 3 last night, around 8:30 p.m., when she came around a corner and was stunned to see a massive boulder in her lane. White said she had to swerve around the boulder.

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Travelling with White were her father, her boyfriend and her boyfriend’s mother.

“There were rocks everywhere,” White recalled on Saturday, adding they stopped and took a picture of one boulder. “And we listened and [rocks] were still coming down the mountain. So we got out of there.”

White said they stopped beside a nearby trailer park because the rockslide had just happened and people were coming out to see the commotion.

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WATCH BELOW (Aired March 5, 2019) After a month-long closure, Highway 97 north of Summerland finally reopens

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After a month-long closure, Highway 97 north of Summerland finally reopens

White added she put her hazard lights on and flagged down motorists to make them aware of what was going on. White estimates she was there for 15 minutes before emergency crews arrived and blocked off the highway.

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In describing the rockslide, White said, “It was really loud. It was cranking and rumbling. It sounded like the mountain was coming down.”

Even though it was night, White said, you could still see rockslide dust in the air.

The highway was closed overnight and was reopened Saturday morning.

“We were so lucky that we weren’t there two minutes earlier,” said White, adding, “It could have been a lot worse, but it was still pretty freaky.”

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