Okanagan Falls firefighters assist in securing a patient at the scene of a three-vehicle collision on Highway 97 near the rock bluff. The highway remains closed. Photos by Lyonel Doherty
Update: Highway 97 at Vaseux Lake has reopened to a single lane after a three-vehicle accident snarled traffic at 11:20 am today.
Police report that a northbound pickup truck drifted into the southbound lane. This pickup clipped a southbound flat deck lumber truck. The pickup spun sideways and was “T-boned” by another pickup that was travelling southbound behind the lumber truck.
The 58-year-old male resident of Grand Forks, the lone occupant of the pickup that drifted into the oncoming lane ,was seriously injured. This male was airlifted to Kelowna General Hospital.
The two occupants of the southbound pickup received minor injuries and were transported to Oliver hospital. The driver of the lumber truck was uninjured.
Preliminary investigation indicates a medical event may be a causal factor, according to the RCMP.
One witness told the Chronicle that the black pickup truck veered off the road and its driver made no attempt to steer back into his lane. The driver had to be extricated from the vehicle by Okanagan Falls firefighters.
This flat deck truck lost part of its load during the accident.
A witness at the scene explains what happened to an RCMP officer.
Firefighters work to extricate an injured driver from one of the pickup trucks.
