Merritt RCMP say charges are pending after a major crash between a tour bus, a tow truck, and a car caused the closure of all northbound lanes and one southbound lane of the Coquihalla Highway Saturday morning.

The three-vehicle crash brought traffic to a standstill just after 10 a.m. on Saturday near Brookmere, B.C., about 40 kilometres south of Merritt.

Police say the car had hit a deer earlier in the morning and was inoperable. Shortly after the tow truck arrived to haul it away, the tour bus struck the truck.

An employee at Universal Coach Line in Richmond confirmed one of its tour buses was involved in the crash, but declined to give further information.

BC Ambulance transferred roughly 35 patients related to the accident. The ambulance service dispatched 12 ground units and four helicopters on scene.

The driver of the tow truck and a tour guide on the bus sustained serious, but not life-threatening injuries, police said.

Four area hospitals were initially accepting patients from the crash in the cities of Kelowna, Kamloops, Meritt and Hope.

Witness C.J. Hodgson told CTV News the bus suffered the worst of the damage in the crash.

"The front third of the bus is ripped off, smashed in, open," she said. "It looks awful."

The other vehicles involved also appeared to have sustained heavy damage. The tow truck’s hood was dislodged and its rear towing equipment crumpled. The car’s worst damage was to its rear end, which was smashed in.

It was unclear Saturday afternoon just what sorts of injuries the victims of the crash sustained or whether there had been any fatalities.

Kyla Guido was driving southbound when she saw the smashed tour bus in the northbound lane. She said she saw at least two passengers lying on the road.

Police said a collision reconstructionist was called in to help with the investigation. Road closures and delays were expected to last until 8 p.m.

With files from The Canadian Press