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Fatal crash names released |
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Written by PAUL STRICKLAND
Citizen staff
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Tuesday, 08 July 2008 |
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NORTHERN BCBURNS LAKELAKES DISTRICT
Brody Mathews, 17, and Torrence Wiebe, 18, graduated recently from Lakes District secondary school, said Const. Craig Douglass Tuesday.
Tamara Charlie, 19, had completed her second year at UNBC in the biomedical studies program, working toward her bachelor of health science degree, police said.
The pickup truck driver, the lone survivor of the crash, was released from hospital Tuesday morning, according to Const. Madonna Saunderson.
The crash occurred Saturday at around 10:45 p.m. on Highway 16 West, just west of Prince George.
The teens' eastbound car crossed the centre line and collided with the westbound pickup truck. Within seconds of the collision, a medical doctor was on the scene and tended to the victims. All three occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene.
Police said two of the three occupants of the car were not wearing seatbelts, and were ejected on impact.
"There are four main contributors to death on our highways -- aggressive driving, speed, failing to wear a seatbelt and alcohol," Douglass said. "All four were involved in this collision."
Charges are not being considered for the driver of the pickup, Douglass said.
The crash occurred after dark on an unlit section of highway, and it is believed it was raining at the time, he added.
RCMP and the B.C. Coroners Service continue to investigate the collision. Several witness statements have been taken, and the scene analyzed. Autopsy examinations and toxicology tests will be performed later this week, Douglass said.
A collision analyst and a mechanic are examining the car for any mechanical defects or problems that might have contributed to the crash, Saunderson said.
A memorial service for the teens is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. at Lakes District secondary school, said Chief Betty Patrick of the Lake Babine Nation.
"The community is just in shock right now," she said. "We've had our share of accidents."
There will be a number of individual services in Burns Lake for each of the teenagers, said Burns Lake mayor Bernice Magee.
"Certainly it's very difficult for the whole community, falling on the heels of the December fatalities as well," Magee said Tuesday.
Magee was referring to the Dec. 3 crash on Highway 16 West, which killed Brenda Levick, a longtime foster parent in Burns Lake, and two adopted and two foster children.
Levick was on her way to Prince George Regional Hospital for cancer testing when her mid-sized car collided with a semi-truck. There were poor winter weather conditions at the time.
Levick's children who died at the scene were her adopted daughter Starla Antoine, 12, and David Crocker, 10, and her two foster children Dean Thomas, 9, and Keanan Thomas, 11, formerly of Fort St. James.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 July 2008 )
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