Two people were killed Monday when their pickup truck collided with an oncoming commercial transport truck on Highway 16 at Cluculz Lake, North District RCMP Cpl. Lesley Smith said.
Witnesses told police the victims' pickup crossed the centreline after it appeared to get stuck in a deep rut on the highway's south side.
"When the truck broke free of the rut it entered into the oncoming lane," Smith said.
The pickup's occupants, a 56-year-old man and a 79-year-old woman, were from Vanderhoof. Their names were not released Tuesday.
The driver of the transport truck, a semi tractor pulling a trailer unit, sustained minor injries.
Police were called to the scene one kilometrre east of Hillcrest Way Road at 3 p.m. and a stretch was closed for some hours as evidence was collected at the scene.
Also on Tuesday, the B.C. Coroners Service identified the man who died last week in a collision on Highway 16 east of Purden Lake as Allan Wayne Miller, 65, of McBride.
Miller was the driver of a pickup truck that collided with a Super-B unit - a semi truck pulling two trailer units - about one kilometre east of Purden Lake and about 60 kilometres east of Prince George on Thursday afternoon.
The trailer unit reportedly swung out into the oncoming lane, police said at the time, although the Coroners Service said the incident remains under investigation.
The pickup truck's female passenger escaped injury as did the semi's driver.
Three other vehicles subsequently became involved - with all the occupants remaining uninjured - starting with an eastbound truck that lost control in the slush and hit the semi, causing extensive damage.
Soon after, a fourth vehicle approaching from the west also lost control but was able to stop in time to avoid a collision.
However, a fifth vehicle, described as a white truck, came upon the scene and reportedly struck the fourth vehicle. The driver then drove off without providing a name or other information and police are continuing to look for the person.
All involved were wearing their seat belts, police said.
Police and other emergency personnel were called to that scene about a kilometre east of Purden at 3:30 p.m.
As of Monday, nine people have died in six incidents on the region's highways since the snow began to fly in early November, five of them involving collisions between passenger vehicles and larger commercial trucks.
