Single-vehicle collision between two vehicles on Sicamous Bridge is considered fatal

Sicamous RCMP say they are investigating a possible fatality after a single-vehicle crash on the Bruhn Bridge left a truck in the canal.

On Saturday, August 24, just before 7 a.m., a truck traveling eastbound on Highway 1 crashed through the bridge’s guardrail and sank to the bottom of the approximately 30-foot-deep water.

“The driver is presumed deceased at this time,” said Sgt. Murray McNeil. “The Royal Canadian Marine Search & Rescue has been out since early this morning and the driver has not been found… and we have called in the RCMP dive team and they are going to try and recover the driver.”

Highway 1 is currently closed indefinitely, with traffic being diverted via Highway 97A, although this was also briefly closed due to another vehicle incident. A Department of Transportation and Infrastructure inspector was on site at the Bruhn Bridge to conduct an assessment before the road was reopened.

“He has to do an assessment of the bridge, deem it structurally sound or not, whether or not there are any further repairs that need to be done, and once he approves it … they can look at putting a temporary barrier there and opening the bridge at a reduced speed,” McNeil said. “But that’s his decision and it could be closed for an extended period of time.”

It appeared the truck was carrying packages that washed up near Beach Park. McNeil added that they called the towing company that was going to haul the truck to send personnel to pick up the packages as part of the recovery.