One motorist is dead and two others injured in a collision on Highway 5.
The crash took place at about 10:40 Sunday night. The highway was blocked for a considerable length of time, and as of Monday morning was still open only to single-lane alternating traffic.
"Police, ambulance and fire-rescue personnel found the wreck between a pickup and a tractor-trailer in a section of road with a number of curves, between the two Thompson River bridges, approximately 50 km's south of Valemount," said Staff Sgt. Pat McTiernan of the RCMP's Prince George Regional Provincial Traffic Services units.
According to police at the scene, when the emergency personnel got to the victims it was snowing heavily and temperatures were approximately -3 degrees Celsius. The road surface was a mixture of fresh snow and compact snow and ice. The investigation continues to determine if speed was a factor considering the conditions, but alcohol has already been ruled out as a factor. All three people involved were wearing their seatbelts, but the violence of the collision was too much for one of them to survive.
"Upon arrival [of first-responders at the scene] the passenger of the pickup truck was confirmed to be deceased," said McTiernan. "The driver of the pickup suffered serious injuries to his legs and has been transferred to Kamloops Hospital where he remains in stable condition.
"The driver of the tractor-trailer was transported by ambulance to Clearwater Hospital for minor injuries. Highway 5 was closed to traffic in both directions to preserve evidence in the collision scene. The highway remained closed for the documentation and interpretation of any and all evidence located in the scene."
It is still too early, said McTiernan, to have an indication as to what caused the collision.
The name of deceased has not been released, pending the notification of the victim's next of kin.
Anyone who may have witnessed the collision or may have any information, which might be of value to the investigators, is asked to contact the Valemount RCMP detachment at 250-566-4466. This includes anyone who might have seen either of the vehicles on the highway immediately prior to the crash.
