At least three vehicles are destroyed after a significant crash on the Nanaimo Pwy. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW staff

Parkway crash

3 cars destroyed in Nanaimo Parkway crash

May 15, 2019 | 6:26 AM

NANAIMO — A major crash closed the northbound lanes of the Nanaimo Parkway in one of the worst accidents in recent memory.

The crash between multiple cars happened around 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 15. Three vehicles suffered serious damage, scattering debris across the highway just south of the Northfield Rd. intersection.

Nanaimo RCMP said a car travelling south suddenly crossed into the northbound lanes and crashed into a truck, which then hit a Jeep.

A witness, who saw the crash from the Northfield Rd. visitor centre parking lot, said “it felt like an earthquake” when the crash happened.

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“The noise was deafening. Cars were tossed everywhere. It was sad,” he said.

Debris was scattered across both northbound lanes of the Nanaimo Pwy and into the brush beside it. (Spencer Sterritt/NanaimoNewsNOW)

The southbound car which caused the crash caught fire, which was quickly put out by a passing motorist with a fire extinguisher in their car.

The driver was taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries, police said.

The northbound lanes of the Nanaimo Pwy. were closed for several hours and traffic was rerouted into southbound lanes.

Many readers reported the traffic had spilled over into many side roads throughout mid-Nanaimo.

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