Emergency services confirm that 17 people have been hospitalized.
In a tweet, Health Minister Adrian Dix said some people were seriously injured. To deal with the situation, the hospital has proclaimed a code orange.
The accident happened around 8:30 a.m. Friday on the Firth Lake Service Road between Prince George and Mackenzie. About 30 people were on board the chartered bus, according to a joint statement by the RCMP and Northern Health.
Seven ambulances and several police officers were dispatched to the scene, RCMP spokeswoman Jennifer Cooper said. The emergency teams’ efforts were hampered by the rain and the difficult conditions of the forest road.
The chartered bus was transporting workers from a pipeline, she said, without specifying which pipeline.
What is a Code Orange?
Normally reserved for natural disasters and mass casualty events, this code is intended to allow medical staff to focus on patient classification and treatment.
As such, anyone whose life is not in danger is strongly advised to contact their GP and avoid Northern BC University Hospital, the city’s only emergency room.
The hospital serves a population of approximately 90,000 and is the premier regional hospital center in northern British Columbia.
The Secretary of Health is inviting families to call the hospital at 1-250-565-2000 for information about their loved ones.
More details to come.
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