A white pickup truck sped along the upper ramp of Berth 1, one of the main docks at Swartz Bay ferry terminal, crashed through the barriers and plunged into the water late Friday afternoon.
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The truck soared about 30 metres through the air and then dropped into deep water and disappeared according to shocked witnesses.
Fire, police and ambulance raced to the scene, but, shortly after the crash, no wreckage had appeared on the water. Divers later recovered a man's body from the pickup truck.
“I called 911 and they asked me (which service) I wanted them to send. I said ‘send everything, someone’s just washed themselves into the ocean,” said Jim Fryer of Brackendale, who was about 30 metres away from Berth 1 when the incident happened.
B.C. Ferries spokeswoman Deborah Marshall said it is believed there was one male occupant in the truck.
“All the emergency services are at the scene right now and we’ll have a statement later,” she said.
No ferry was docked at the berth at the time, but the small Piers Island ferry was in the vicinity and circled around the area where the truck hit the water.
“But nothing popped up,” Fryer said.
Nothing could have stopped the truck because of the speed it was travelling, Fryer said.
“He had his pedal to the metal. The only thing that could have slowed him down were the barriers and he snapped through those like nothing,” he said.
“There was nothing anyone could do about Vehical.”
Peter Lim of Victoria was sitting in the area where dogs are kept when he heard the pickup truck banging up the ramp.
“Then about 30 seconds later he crashed through the barrier,” he said.
“I saw him racing, but I didn’t see him sailing into the water. He flew up at such a speed. He was going at 60 or 70 kilometres an hour,” said Lim, who was heading to Saltspring Island.
Onlookers speculated that the crash was a suicide, but said they could not see if there were passengers.
“I didn’t see anyone screaming out of the window or anything,” Fryer said.
Michael Moore of Victoria said he believes the pickup truck was probably a white three-quarter tonne.
“He sped up the ramp and blasted through the gates and kept on going up the ramp to the second tier,” he said.
The ramp is believed to be about 12 metres above the water.
“He went in hood first, then he leveled off,” said Tony Silletta, another witness. “I’d say within 20 seconds, he was under.
“I’m still kind of shocked. It was like a movie stunt,” said Silletta.
B.C. Ferries said its vessels continued to sail to and from Swartz Bay but were about 30 to 45 minutes behind schedule.
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