A mechanical failure may have led to a crash on the Malahat Thursday afternoon that closed a nine-kilometre stretch of the highway near Bamberton in both directions for several hours.
Preliminary information indicated that a mechanical failure led a truck to veer off the roadway, colliding with a car in the Shawnigan Lake area, said RCMP spokesman Cpl. Alex Bérubé.
The truck then caught fire, sending plumes of black smoke into the air.
Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement went to the scene to investigate, Bérubé said.
A spokesperson for B.C. Emergency Health Services said they received a call just after 1 p.m. Thursday and responded with two ambulances. Paramedics transported one person to hospital in stable condition.
The road reopened by 7 p.m.
The crash scene covered all four lanes and several median barriers were pushed to the middle of traffic lanes.
A detour via Shawnigan Lake-Mill Bay Road was in effect around the closed portion, which stretched from Mill Bay to three kilometres south of the Malahat summit.
