One person was critically injured and six others were hurt when a semi-truck barrelled downhill on the Coquihalla Highway.
The truck, which witnesses said appeared to have lost the use of its brakes, struck as many as two dozen vehicles on the highway near Box Canyon Friday afternoon.
RCMP said the truck was unable to stop, but did not confirm whether there was a problem with the brakes. The truck is being inspected by the Ministry of Transportation.
The B.C. Ambulance Service said it dispatched two air ambulances and 11 ground ambulances to the scene of the multi-vehicle crash, which happened in the southbound lanes east of Hope. The crash occurred near the Great Bear Snowshed tunnel around 2:30 p.m.
Officials said one person had to be airlifted to hospital in critical condition, but that their injuries are not considered to be life-threatening. Another six people were transported by ambulance with "relatively minor" injuries.
A truck driver who was passing through the area estimated that more than 20 vehicles were hit either by the truck or by other cars during the crash. The driver, who did not want to be identified, said he'd heard on his radio that a transport truck "blew a brake check" right before the crash.
The RCMP Traffic Services said the truck collided with 13 other vehicles, but photos from the scene show several SUVs and cars with varying amounts of damage. One witness said there were other collisions on the highway after the truck barrelled through, as approaching vehicles collided with stopped cars, so the total of damaged vehicles may be higher.
"We'd like to thank the motoring public for their patience and understanding as getting the injured to hospital was our first priority," Const. Melissa Wutke said in a statement.
A witness said she was travelling in the opposite direction of the semi and could smell the truck’s brakes.
Joey Kenward, a reporter for the Vancouver Canucks, was heading north on the highway when he witnessed the aftermath of the crash.
Kenward told CTV News that he'd passed the scene just as emergency vehicles arrived, and said several people had gotten out of their vehicles to tend to those who had been injured.
"I've come across different accident scenes on the Coquihalla Highway but that was as lengthy a back-up as I've ever been witness to," he said in a phone interview from Kelowna.
"That's a further reminder that you just have to be safe when behind the wheel."
The southbound lanes of the Coquihalla were closed for several hours, but reopened at 9:30 p.m.
With files from The Canadian Press
