SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - A fender-bender sent two people to hospital and closed a busy portion of Franklin Avenue for 18 minutes on Wednesday at noon.

A City Cabs car's front hood buckled in after slamming into a green Chevrolet Silverado near the Forrest Drive and Franklin Avenue intersection at approximately 12:30 p.m.

A City Cabs taxi is towed away after colliding with the back of a green Chevrolet Silverado, Wednesday afternoon. The accident sent two people to hospital with undisclosed injuries and closed down a busy section of Franklin Avenue for 18 minutes over lunch hour. - Herb Mathisen/NNSL photo

An RCMP officer on the scene said the truck was hit from behind, injuring two who were taken by ambulance to Stanton Territorial Hospital.

RCMP Const. Roxanne Dreilich said the two injured were brought to the hospital for "precautionary reasons."

Keith Ambrose Jordan was just a few feet away from the vehicles when they collided. He said the man driving the truck, headed towards the fire hall, had seen someone he knew coming the other way on Franklin Avenue, and slowed down. A cab changing lanes behind him only noticed the slowing truck at the last second.

The cab driver "locked it up," said Jordan - slamming hard on the brakes.

Jordan said the two people taken to the hospital were a woman in the back of the cab and the man driving the truck.

Jordan said the woman did not appear to be wearing a seatbelt, adding the man driving the truck "got really bad whiplash."

Two police cars were on the scene, along with one municipal enforcement car. A bylaw officer diverted traffic through the Yellowknife Community Arena parking lot.

A tow truck removed the cab, which sustained heavy damage to the body.

Jordan said the truck did not look like it has been damaged to badly, as the bumper took the brunt of the force.

Fluids from the smashed-up cab leaked into the street.