Edmonton police said a crash on the city’s west end forced the closure of a street, and the evacuation of a number of surrounding buildings after a wire on a transmission tower was struck.
Police said at about 2:40 p.m. Tuesday, a collision in the area of Stony Plain Road and 184 Street was reported to police.
Early details suggest a stolen semi-truck collided with another vehicle on Stony Plain Road, it entered the CTV Edmonton parking lot and hit the cable on the transmission tower located on the property, detaching the cable from the tower.
“He was coming quite fast, and he never stopped, he just swerved right in front of me and the school bus,” Witness Lee Abar said. “The truck that’s laying on its side now was half on, and half off the deck.
“He turned up 184 [Street] here and turned in here and crashed through the fence and over the fence.”
Bystanders also rushed to help the female driver of the small car.
“She had actually gotten out of the car on her own, and was coherent but hat regular chest pain that comes with an airbag deploying,” Witness Lawrence Little said.
Police said the female driver of the vehicle hit in the crash on Stony Plain Road was taken to hospital as a precaution.
It’s alleged the man who was driving the stolen semi attempted to flee in another vehicle described as a 1995 blue or turquoise Pontiac Grand Am that had been stolen from that parking lot.
Buildings nearby, including CTV Edmonton, were evacuated due to the risk of the tower collapsing - the evacuation order was lifted just after 6 p.m. Tuesday.
Drivers were asked to avoid 184 Street to north and southbound traffic between Stony Plain Road and 104 Avenue. That section of roadway was expected to be closed for several hours.
Crews on the scene Tuesday evening were working to remove the wreckage of the semi, which was still caught on a second cable for the tower – that second cable was still intact.
With files from Angela Jung
