32-year-old P.E.I. man dies in 'violent' highway crash near Cap-Pelé
Gabrielle Fahmy | CBC News | Posted: August 11, 2016 2:26 PM | Last Updated: August 11, 2016
Police investigating cause of crash on Highway 15, which is a major tourist artery in the summer
A 32-year-old man from P.E.I. is dead following a motor vehicle crash on Highway 15 near Cap-Pelé on Thursday morning.
The collision, which occurred at around 10 a.m., involved a car and a transport truck.
Louis-Martin Henault, a tourist from Quebec, was driving behind the eastbound truck with his wife and children when the accident happened.
Henault says the car was travelling in the opposite direction, and came head-on with the truck while trying to pass another vehicle.
"It was very violent," said Henault. "Like in a movie."
The truck involved in the collision flipped on its side. Three occupants between the ages of 21 and 30 managed to escape, and were transported by ambulance to the hospital in Moncton with what are believed to be non-life-threatening injuries, said RCMP.
The driver of the car died at the scene, police said.
Henault and his family barely escaped the debris.
"We came really close to the vehicle," he said. "We were really scared."
Henault says he immediately parked his car and called the authorities.
Highway 15 was closed for several hours between Exit 46 and Exit 53, resulting in backed up traffic in the area. It reopened around 3:30 p.m.
An RCMP collision reconstructionist attended the scene and the investigation into the cause of the crash is ongoing.