Semi crashes into townhome along Gordon Drive

A Kelowna man is thanking God none of his family were hurt when a semi-truck ploughed into their townhome on the corner of Gordon Drive and Cameron Avenue Tuesday morning.

And he’s again raising concerns about safety at the intersection.

The truck, which was not carrying a load, crashed into the home while his mother-in-law and one-year-old child were inside.

“As soon as I saw both of them looking at me, I knew everything was okay,” Samer Shehadeh told reporters outside.

He got the call about the crash while he was at work in Rutland. Six people live in the house: Shehadeh, his wife, mother-in-law, and three kids. His wife was out, as were his two other kids at the time of the incident.

“I just thank God there was no fire and nothing exploded,” he said, noting on Easter Monday, his kids were playing downstairs near where the truck went through the wall.

“Thank God today wasn’t a holiday and this happened,” he said.

Shehadeh figures the driver of the truck “is fine”, but it’s not clear how the incident happened. He said it appears the semi crossed three lanes before smashing into his home.

“I have CCTV footage, hopefully it’s there,” he explained, adding this is not the first time a crash has happened.

“I’ve posted in the past, this is the third accident in the last two years. One was pretty serious at the bus stop. This is a pretty bad corner.”

Earlier, Kelowna RCMP said the semi-truck was wedged into the home and would not be removed until structural engineers had been consulted. The power and gas to the residence was turned off as a safety precaution.

Later on Tuesday the Kelowna Fire Department said the driver was taken to hospital by the BC Ambulance Service with unknown injuries.