Truck, van collide

A fully loaded dump truck struck the side of a minivan that ran a stop sign near the intersection of Oliver Road and Twin City Crossroad.

Thunder Bay Police Service officers responded to a collision between a minivan and a dump truck near Oliver Road and Twin City Crossroad around 2:40 p.m. on Saturday. The front end of the minivan was smashed in and the truck flipped onto its side in the nearby ditch. Police rerouted traffic on Mapleward Road and Townline Road while they investigated the scene.

Paramedics took both drivers to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre.

Eric Todd, superintendent with Superior North Emergency Medical Service, said the driver of the minivan was in critical conditional while the driver of the dump truck had received minor injuries.

“The serious injuries were sustained by the driver of the minivan and of course the driver of the dump truck had a lot more protection,” Todd said. “At this time the (minivan driver) is in serious condition and pending further X-rays and so forth it is hard to tell if there are any extensive injuries that we weren’t able to catch with the tools we have here.”

Art Vanderbroeke, who lives just down the street from where the collision took place, said he didn’t see what had happened but the loud crash brought everyone outside to look.

“I thought the whole house shook,” Vanderbroeke said.

Thunder Bay Police traffic services Const. Matt Hanchuck said according to witnesses it appeared that the minivan did not stop at the posted stop sign and turned onto Oliver Road as the dump truck was coming.

“The dump truck, which was hauling gravel, was traveling eastbound towards town on Oliver Road, tried its best to avoid the vehicle but still clipped the front end of it causing both vehicles to careen,” Hanchuck said. “The dump truck flipped over, lost its load and as far as I’ve been told by the EMS paramedics, both drivers has been taken to hospital.”

Hanchuck added they expected to have the road open for traffic within the next couple of hours.