By David F. Rooney
A collision involving to transport trucks near the Wolsey Creek Bridge on the Trans-Canada 35 kilometres East of town at about 6 am Tuesday, November 17, resulted in the death of one man and the hospitalization of two others. Meanwhile, the Mounties’ investigation at the scene yielded a large quantity of marijuana being transported in one of the trucks.
“In addition to the General Duty officers, the Trans Canada East Traffic Services unit also attended and commenced an investigation into the two commercial vehicle head-on collision as it had been determined that the collision had resulted in a fatality. “One male in the East-bound tractor died as a result of the collision,” Staff Sgt. Kurt Grabinsky, the detachment commander, said in a statement issued later in the day. “The cause of the incident is being investigated. The BC Coroner’s Service and the RCMP ICARS Traffic Analyst from Golden Detachment are both en route to examine the scene.”
In a statement released at 3:10 pm Tuesday afternoon Grabinsky and Cpl. Mike Waylenki, Revelstoke/Sicamous/Salmon team leader for the Force’s Trans-Canada East Traffic Services, said: “Through the course of the investigation a large quantity of marijuana was located in the tractor trailer power unit. The marijuana was seized and the matter is still under investigation. Approximately 160 lbs of marijuana was being transported East-bound through the Revelstoke area, on the Trans-Canada Highway.”
He said there heavy snow on the highway “with slippery sections and low visibility.”
The two injured men, one from each vehicle, were transported to Queen Victoria Hospital by BC Ambulance Service. Both have serious injuries and will be transported to either Kamloops or Kelowna for further treatment.
No names are being released at this time, Grabinsky said.
Revelsoktian William Ottewell was driving back to Calgary after spending three days with family members when he started taking photos of the line-up and the crash scene at about 6:35 am.
“They were pushing everyone back,” he said of the RCMP officers at the scene. “It’s an avalanche zone so they were worried about that, too.”
Ottewell made it back to Revelstoke by about 8:30. He hoped Highway One would be reopened by 2 pm but at 3:30 pm DriveBC was reporting that the highway was not expected to be reopened before 5:30 pm (PST). The highway is, at least until then, closed east of Revelstoke.
Please click here to read our original story about the closure.
