Six sent to hospital after four-car crash on N.S. highway

Five people have been sent to hospital in Halifax after a four-vehicle accident on the Bedford Highway early Friday. (CTV Atlantic)

A four-vehicle collision on Halifax’s busy, but usually slow-moving, Bedford Highway sent six people to hospital and tied up traffic for hours Friday morning.

Emergency crews responded to the crash near the Main Street intersection at 7 a.m.

“I saw a red truck come from the opposite lane…it looked like the truck was almost airborne at one point,” says Craig Taylor, who witnessed the accident.

“I’m not sure of the exact situation, how it came over, but it ended up hitting one of these cars head-on, creating the four-car pileup.”

He says bystanders rushed to help the crash victims get out of their vehicles.

“I got out of my car, came forward, called 911, checked the cars,” says Taylor. “Everyone was getting out of their cars and getting helped by some very good people around here.”

Halifax Regional Police spokesman Const. Pierre Bourdages confirms an outbound pickup truck crossed the centre line and collided head-on with three inbound vehicles.

One person had to be freed from their vehicle with the Jaws of Life. That person and five others – four men and two women - were sent to hospital in Halifax.

Police say the victims range in age from 27 to 66. Some of the injuries are serious but none are life-threatening.

“It was a big scene. We have four vehicles involved and many of them were reduced to pieces so it’s very good news nobody was killed,” says Bourdages.

The collision forced the closure of one lane, snarling traffic on the busy route during the morning rush hour.

“As we know, Bedford Highway is one of the main access points to the city so it created a ripple effect and created a very slow morning commute at all the other entry (points),” says Bourdages.

The road was partially closed for most of the morning. It reopened at 11:30 a.m.

Bourdages says it is too early to determine whether charges will be laid. The accident remains under investigation.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jayson Baxter