One person dead, another injured following Coquihalla crash involving horses
One person has died and another is in the hospital following a collision on the Coquihalla last night that involved a truck hauling a trailer full of horses.
Kelly Kennedy, the owner of Sageview Ranch who sits on the Horse Council of B.C., said she responded to the collision, Oct. 22, that involved one fatality.
She was able to rescue five horses and two dogs.
She got a phone call from Kamloops RCMP and a horse transporter in Vancouver asking for her help at an accident scene four-kilometres east of the Logan Lake turnoff. Highway 5 was closed last night following the crash, according to DriveB.C.
“I have winters on a dually and was sliding, it was a sheet of ice,” Kennedy said. “The fatality fellow was transported before I got there luckily. The driver of the truck is recovering in hospital. The trailer is still sitting up there in a ditch on its side.”
Kennedy suspects a southbound driver going up the hill hit black ice and crossed the median, crashing into a truck hauling a trailer full of horses.
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She is used to getting calls for help after spending several years voluntarily responding to wildfire and flood disasters that involve livestock but this is the first time she has dealt with injured ones.
“The trailer was detached from the truck and did a complete roll over with horses in it,” she said. “They were hauling horses to different owners.”
Kennedy got to work with the help of a boarder at her ranch to haul three horses to the safety of her property in one trailer and two to the care of a large animal veterinarian. She also brought two dogs home with her.
One dog was riding in the truck that was pulling the trailer when the accident happened and the second one was in the flipped trailer.
“We had to cut one dog out of the tack room to get it out,” she said. “There is a big stud doberman and a rottweiler, both are young. The rotty was in the trailer and is traumatized.”
None of the five horses have life threatening injuries but they did incur a lot of bumps and bruises.
Kennedy said owners have been arriving at her ranch to pick up their animals today and the large animal vet, who was also at the scene of the accident, has remained on-call throughout the devastating event.
Two horses are remaining under vet observation while the dogs are heading home to Alberta as soon as possible.
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Kennedy has been a help to her community and surrounding ones, often putting people up who are displaced by wildfires and floods. Last year she rescued 72 farm animals from surrounding wildfires.
B.C. RCMP Communications have not responded to a request for comment.
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