'There was debris that was on her bed': Car crashes through Nanaimo house, narrowly misses child
Police are investigating after a vehicle plowed into a house in Nanaimo, B.C., narrowly missing a nine-year-old girl.
The crash happened at approximately 10:30 p.m. Sunday, when the driver lost control of her vehicle while heading southbound on the Old Island Highway.
The car sailed over an embankment and struck a parked car before travelling across a lawn and into the house near the corner of Highland Boulevard and Cosgrove Crescent.
"There was a number of people in the home and nobody was injured," said Nanaimo RCMP spokesperson Const. Gary O'Brien. "The car came to rest about six feet from where a young girl was sleeping."
Police say the driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. A dog that was in the car was not injured.
An impaired driving investigation has been launched, O'Brien said.
An impaired driving investigation has been launched in the wake of the crash, according to the Nanaimo RCMP. (CTV News)
Jeff Heaslip says he got home from work around 9:45 p.m. and was just getting into bed when the car crashed through his daughter's bedroom.
"By the time I put my head on the pillow, I heard a crash and then went and looked out the window and heard a big crash," he said Monday.
Heaslip thought a tree had fallen on the house.
"I came into my daughter's room and that's where the car was," he said. "There was debris that was on her bed. I grabbed her and then told everybody to get out of the house."
Police say the driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. (Jeff Heaslip)
The vehicle remained lodged in the side of the home Monday morning.
"At this point, the vehicle is still in the house," O'Brien said. "Fortis and [BC] Hydro and fire responded. They shut off all the utilities to the home. They're just figuring out now how to safely get the car out of the house."
Heaslip and his four children are staying in a hotel until engineers can assess the damage to the building.
"We're trying to gather up as much of our belongings as we could," said Heaslip, who thanked the community and first responders for their support.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Amid concerns over 'collateral damage' Trudeau, Freeland defend capital gains tax change
Facing pushback from physicians and businesspeople over the coming increase to the capital gains inclusion rate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his deputy Chrystia Freeland are standing by their plan to target Canada's highest earners.
Widow looking for answers after Quebec man dies in Texas Ironman competition
The widow of a Quebec man who died competing in an Ironman competition is looking for answers.
Tom Mulcair: Park littered with trash after 'pilot project' is perfect symbol of Trudeau governance
Former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says that what's happening now in a trash-littered federal park in Quebec is a perfect metaphor for how the Trudeau government runs things.
Fewer medical students going into family medicine contributing to doctor shortage
As some family doctors are retiring and others are moving away from family medicine, there are fewer medical students to take their place.
'It's discriminatory': Individuals refused entry to Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
Individuals being barred from entering Ontario’s legislature while wearing a keffiyeh say the garment is part of their cultural identity— and the only ones making it political are the politicians banning it.
Bodies found by U.S. authorities searching for missing B.C. kayakers
United States authorities who have been searching for a pair of missing kayakers from British Columbia since the weekend have recovered two bodies in the nearby San Juan Islands of Washington state.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Competition bureau finds 'substantial' anti-competitive effects with proposed Bunge-Viterra merger
The proposed merger of agricultural giants Viterra and Bunge is raising competition concerns from the federal government.