VANCOUVER — A driver was extracted from the wreckage of their car in a complex rescue operation after the vehicle plunged through the concrete wall of a multi-storey parking lot at the University of British Columbia.
Capt. Matthew Trudeau with Vancouver Fire Rescue Services said 10 emergency vehicles responded to a call to the campus around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Trudeau said a large piece of "concrete beam" was on top of the vehicle, complicating the rescue that took place amid heavily falling snow.
The driver was seen being pulled from the wreckage around noon, before being taken away in an ambulance.
Trudeau said the driver was injured but he couldn't comment further on their condition.
Jasprit Khandal, an information officer with B.C. Emergency Health Services, said attending paramedics did not take anyone to the hospital. Asked about the apparent discrepancy, BCEHS referred questions to the police.
RCMP said they didn't have more information about the driver.
Heavy rescue and technical rescue teams were involved in the operation to free the driver, whose vehicle fell from the second storey of the building on Thunderbird Boulevard.
Trudeau said there were "numerous safety concerns" around the complex rescue.
“We’re obviously trying to stabilize that vehicle, that way we started pulling doors off, breaking windows, just basically removing the car around the individual," he said during the operation.
He said rescuers had to be careful not to "shift that concrete structure that’s above them."
A structural engineer was on-site, Trudeau said, and a crane would likely be needed to secure the broken beam.
RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. Kris Clark said the building may have suffered "structural damage."
Trudeau said multiple "specific hazards" made the operation unusual.
“We've had similar events, but nothing quite this complex and specific,” said Trudeau.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 17, 2024.
Nono Shen, The Canadian Press
