Semi-trailer truck crashes off bridge on Highway 1 near Sicamous, BC

A semi-trailer truck sank in a lake in southern British Columbia after it went off a bridge on Highway 1 on Saturday morning.

Officials said the accident occurred just before 7 a.m. PT on the Bruhn Bridge along the highway in Sicamous, a community of more than 2,600 residents less than 100 kilometers east of Kamloops. A photo and video shared on social media show part of the railing missing from a section of the bridge.

According to DriveBC, the bridge is currently closed in both directions due to the incident and a detour is in place via Highways 97A and 97B.

However, traffic on Highway 97A is also now down to a single lane because another traffic accident occurred about three to five kilometers south of Sicamous, the Columbia Shuswap Regional District (CSRD) said at 11 a.m. PT. The district has advised people to “avoid the area completely if possible.”

BC Emergency Health Service told CBC News it dispatched two ambulances to the scene after receiving a call about the incident at 6:53 a.m. PT. Paramedics did not transport any patients to hospital, it said in a statement shortly before 10:30 a.m.

CSRD said the Shuswap Emergency Response Program and the District of Sicamous are working together to respond to the incident, adding that a dive team has also been deployed.

According to official reports, diesel fuel apparently got into the water during the incident.

Tracy Hughes, the district's coordinator, told CBC News that the truck crashed onto the side of the Lake Mara bridge, in an area known locally as Sicamous Channel, where Lake Mara and Lake Shuswap meet.

The province's Ministry of Environment told CBC News that an environmental emergency response officer was on site, but the exact contents of the truck and potential environmental impacts were not yet known as of 10:24 a.m. PT.

In addition, the CSRD is asking the public to avoid the area so emergency crews can work. The district says Sicamous Fire Rescue reported some people went into the water to retrieve items from the truck, but the public is not being warned about this.