B.C. highway crash earlier this week involved pregnant woman, over-the-bank rescue

A B.C. highway crash earlier this week involved a pregnant woman inside a vehicle that plunged over a steep embankment, falling 20 to 30 feet into a creek.

According to police, the woman was OK after the accident, which happened Wednesday, near Christina Lake, along Highway 3.

Grand Forks RCMP said a man and a woman were driving to Trail for a scheduled medical appointment, when their vehicle left the road.

Emergency crews were required to extricate the man from behind the wheel, while the woman was able to get out under her own strength. Police say both sustained non-life threatening injuries and were transported to hospital in Grand Forks.

Grand Forks RCMP Sgt. Darryl Peppler said he spoke to the woman on Wednesday afternoon, and that she was on good health and spirits.

The fire chief of Christina Lake Fire Rescue, Joe Geary, said the vehicle went over an embankment of 20 to 30 feet. He said road conditions were slippery at the time.

“When we arrived, she was already out and in the creek,” said Geary. “The car was on its roof and her husband was still trapped inside the vehicle.”

1:36 RCMP caution drivers after serious crash near Bassano, Alta., on Highway 1

Geary said they train for a variety of rescue scenarios, including over-the-bank rescues, adding “this isn’t the first time we’ve had a vehicle in the creek.”

He called the embankment very steep, stating you couldn’t climb up it without a rope. He added five crew members were involved in the rescue.

Peppler noted that the crash was one of two incidents within 500 metres of each other, with the second involving an empty commercial tanker truck crossing into the oncoming lane and colliding with a Jeep.

Both occupants of the Jeep were also transported to hospital in Grand Forks.

2:19 School bus crash near Smoky Lake reignites questions about seatbelts