Five people had some terrifying moments last week when they plunged into a canal in Glenn County. At 10:20AM last Friday morning the five people from San Leandro were in a Nissan pickup driven by 20-year-old Alejandro Campana northbound on Interstate Five near County Road 27. The pickup drifted onto the gravel shoulder on the right side of the freeway and Campana pulled the wheel back to the left onto the pavement and then the truck swerved off the road again and passed to the right of a guardrail separating the freeway from the Tehama-Colusa Canal. After hitting the raised embankment, the truck went airborne before landing in the full canal. Campana and his four teenage passengers were all able to unbuckle their seatbelts and escape out the broken driver’s side window as the truck sank to the bottom. The five were not out of danger yet because the canal bank was slick and smooth and they couldn’t grip anything to pull themselves out. A witness stopped and used a shovel to reach out and allow the wet survivors to grab hold and pull themselves from the water. They lost all their belongings and were soaking wet, so a CHP Officer drove them to the Willows Walmart, where staff donated clothing, shoes and hot meals for them.
-Steve Gibson