A woman has suffered life-threatening injuries following a head-on collision on Highway 4, west of the Alberni Summit.
The woman was the single occupant in a passenger van travelling eastbound on Highway 4 that collided head-on with a semi-truck approximately three kilometres east of Coombs Country Candy.
The driver's injuries "are certainly significant. Life-threatening," Port Alberni RCMP Cpl. Jay Donohue said. An air ambulance was called in to West Coast General Hospital due to the severity of the accident.
The driver of the semi-truck was shaken up but uninjured, Donohue said.
Fire crews from Port Alberni were called to extinguish a fire in the collision. RCMP traffic analysts were on the way, as were Emcon highways crews to deal with the diesel, oil and firefighting foam that spread across both lanes of the highway.
Traffic was backed up on the west side of the Hump for a couple of kilometres. RCMP could not give an estimate when the highway would re-open.