RCMP have responded to three fatal collisions, two of which were near Prince George, in the last few days.
On Jan. 14 at 6:30 p.m., Prince George RCMP responded to a single-vehicle crash on Foothills Boulevard near Flamingo Road where the crash impacted a hydro pole, bringing down live wires.
“The driver of the car was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries but sadly the passenger, a 29-year-old man, was deceased at the scene,” says Cpl. Madonna Saunderson with the North District RCMP.
When Traffic Services members arrived at the location, they observed a Ford F150 rolled into the ditch and lying on its roof. That's when police saw the vehicle sheared off a power pole during the collision. There were two occupants of the vehicle and police were able locate one occupant, the driver, in a near-by snowbank where he landed after he was thrown from the vehicle. The second occupant was still in the vehicle but live hydro wires hanging down impeded their rescue.
Emergency crews pulled the male in the snowbank clear of the hydro wires and transported him to the University Hospital of Northern B.C. for treatment of his injuries. The passenger of the vehicle was found deceased.
The B.C. Coroners Service attended the scene and they will be conducting a parallel fact-finding investigation to confirm cause of death.
The Prince George RCMP have determined alcohol to be a factor and will not be releasing any further information about the identity of the deceased. The incident shut down traffic for several hours as police collected evidence and crews worked to clear the scene.
“Police released the driver from custody without charge pending results of a laboratory analysis and other supporting evidence. This is common practice in a file of this nature,” states Cst. Jennifer Cooper of the Prince George RCMP, in a news release.
On the same day in Fort. St. James, police responded to a two-vehicle crash on Tachie Road at 12:42 p.m.
There was a report of a head-on crash involving a pickup truck and a car.
The driver of the car, an 86-year-old man was pronounced deceased at the scene, while the occupants of the pickup were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
Then, on Jan. 16 at 1:44 p.m., Prince George RCMP responded to a single-vehicle crash at the 32500 block of the Hart Highway north of Tallus Road where a 60-year-old woman was found deceased at the scene.
Witnesses state a Ford F350, pulling a horse trailer, was travelling southbound on the highway when the tires caught on the ditch and pulled the truck and trailer over the embankment.
When frontline members and members of the Prince George Traffic Services Unit attended the location, they observed a lone occupant in the front seat. There were no indications of anyone else travelling in the vehicle and the occupant was declared deceased at the scene.
Frontline members removed the horse from the trailer and contacted the B.C. SPCA to transport the horse. Police closed the highway for several hours as they gathered evidence and crews worked to clear the scene. There is no indication at the time that alcohol or speed were a factor in the incident but weather conditions at the time appear to be the main contributor.
The B.C. Coroners Service is now conducting a parallel fact-finding investigation into the cause of death and the Prince George RCMP will not be releasing any further information on the deceased. The miniature horse in the trailer did not receive significant injury.
