'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
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'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.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.