PHOTOS: Dangerous rescue after pick-up goes over cliff near Clinton

Two of the five people rescued from a vehicle that drove over a cliff on High Bar Road west of Clinton in the South Cariboo were transported to Royal Inland Hospital in serious condition on Sunday, April 6, 2014. The other three patients were taken by ambulance to Ashcroft Hospital. In this picture, Kamloops SAR members and B.C. Ambulance paramedics bring one of the victims to the road.

Image Credit: Kamloops SAR

April 06, 2014 - 3:58 PM

“I HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY WEREN’T DEAD”

KAMLOOPS – “It was the most dramatic rescue I’ve ever been on,” veteran Kamloops Search and Rescue leader Alan Hobler said after getting back into cell phone range following the rope rescue west of Clinton in the South Cariboo Sunday.

Clinton RCMP say a 2013 Dodge Dodge Ram Crewcab pick-up truck was travelling at a high rate of speed on High Bar Road around 4:14 a.m. when the driver missed a turn and the truck launched off a cliff. Alcohol hasn’t been ruled out as a factor in the crash.

Hobler said the truck ended up 500 feet down a steep, rocky slope stuck about 15 feet away from dropping another 300 feet.

Five people were in the truck. Three managed to walk back up the embankment.

A man, 38, was ejected and badly injured. A woman, 30, was driving and she was trapped in the truck which was hanging on an edge ready to fall the rest of the way down the slope.

According to Hobler, the truck was “completely and totally mangled.”

“I have no idea why they weren’t dead,” Hobler said. “I’ve been to many of these kinds of crashes before and there are always fatalities.

There were 23 SAR volunteers at the scene and he said they needed every one of them.

“We took our time. It was dangerous for the rescuers… there were lots of lose rocks rolling down and almost hitting our rescuers and almost hitting the subjects.”

The crash happened 2 km south of the intersection of Big Bar and High Bar Roads, about 180 km northwest of Kamloops.

The three people who made it up the slope on their own power were taken by ambulance to Ashcroft Hospital with minor to moderate injuries. They were treated and released

The man that was thrown from the truck and the woman that was trapped in the vehicle were taken by air ambulance to Royal Inland Hospital in serious condition. The are listed in stable condition.

The RCMP are asking anyone who witnessed the accident to contact the Clinton RCMP at 250-459-2221.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Howard Alexander at halexander@infotelnews.ca or call 250-491-0331. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

- This story was updated at 11:04 a.m., Monday, April 7, 2014 to add information provided by the Clinton RCMP.

- This story was updated at 3:58 p.m., Sunday, April 6, 2014 to add information from search and rescue, and new photos.