Two people were taken to hospital and a Nanaimo McDonald’s restaurant is now closed after a collision sent a bus into the side of the building.
The crash happened shortly after 10 a.m. Wednesday morning (March 15) at the Bowen Road and Dufferin Crescent intersection when a 15-passenger bus collided with other vehicles and then rammed into the exterior wall of a McDonald’s restaurant.
The crash resulted in the driver of the bus and the driver of a car, that also collided with a Purolator transport truck, being sent to hospital.
Police said the bus driver had possibly gone into medical distress just before the crash.
The bus’s impact with the restaurant shattered the building’s water line and caused flooding in the building and part of the intersection until city workers could turn off the supply.
Jenn Hall, restaurant manager, said patrons were startled by the impact, but no one was injured.
“The building will have to be assessed before we will know when it can be opened again,” Hall said.
The restaurant, which opened in January 2015, is Nanaimo’s newest McDonald’s outlet.
Traffic in both directions was snarled on Bowen Road and Dufferin Crescent until the wreckage was cleared. A fourth car involved in the crash suffered minor damage and was driven away by its owner.
Nanaimo RCMP are investigating the accident.