Vehicle in Luskville crash carrying equipment that uses radiation, no danger to public

Vehicle in Luskville crash carrying equipment that uses radiation, no danger to public

This story has been updated from its original version to add further details from police. 

A single-vehicle crash on Hwy. 148 in Luskville yesterday afternoon (July 10) caused some alarm, after at least one local resident was told by police that it contained radioactive material. The crash took place at around 3:40 p.m. near 1913 Hwy. 148 (at the east end of the four lane section).

MRC des Collines police spokesperson Sgt. Martin Fournel said that the vehicle was carrying unspecified surveying equipment that uses radiation, but the tool wasn’t damaged and posed no danger to the general public.

He said the driver of the vehicle, a 37 year-old man from Gatineau, was not injured, but was fined for speeding and for one of his tires not being up to safe standards. In a public statement, police said that the driver had been observed travelling 126 km/h on wet pavement and passing two trucks just seconds before hitting a guardrail and ending up on the median.

Siri Ingebrigtsen, who lives near the crash site, said she was told by one of the officers on scene to leave the area due to the presence of “nuclear material”, but he didn’t offer any other details.

Fournel recalled a similar incident that took place in Val-des-Monts last year where a vehicle carrying a nuclear densometer (used to measure density of soil or other materials) crashed and the tool was ejected into a nearby building.