Courtesy of the Rush:
Greg Fry - Williams Lake
Tragedy along highway 97 near McLeese Lake this morning.
RCMP Inspector and Detachment Commander Warren Brown says up to 5 people are dead following a collision between a semi truck trailer and a passenger van.
He says the collision created a significant impact resulting in both vehicles catching fire. Brown says its' one of the worst scenes they've ever attended.
"Well it's certainly, in recent years, it's the most significant fatality at 1 accident scene that I'm aware of. Speaking with some fo the investigators, it's likely perhaps the worst traffic accident scene they've ever been involved with.", Brown said
Brown says no cause has been determined and says they don't know who was involved or where the vehicles were travelling from. He says he expects the investigation to take all night.
Update on Story (Courtesy of PG Citizen):
The Citizen has learned the victims of a fatal vehicle accident on Highway 97 early this morning was an employee of the newspaper and his family.
Systems manager Matt Altizer, 40, his wife Leah and their two children, Jonathan, a Grade 8 student and Emily, a Grade 6 student, died in the incident.
The family members were on their way to Vancouver to fulfill a lifelong dream of Altizer, a huge tennis enthusiast: attending a Davis Cup international match. Canada plays France in Vancouver this weekend.
At about 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning, a few minutes north of McLeese Lake, the family's SUV and a semi truck collided head on. The truck driver survived.
"We know the SUV crossed the centre line into the path of the semi rig. We do not yet know why," said Cpl. Madonna Saunderson, an RCMP traffic policing spokesperson.
Emergency personnel on-scene eight hours after the crash were still unable to fully investigate the wreckage.
"Both vehicles were engulfed in flames and that hindered emergency personnel from getting close to the vehicles," said Saunderson.
Traffic was halted in both directions for hours but the highway was open to single-lane alternating traffic this afternoon.
The roads were reportedly bare and dry at the time, with good visibility.
Interim publisher Colleen Sparrow, who worked with Altizer for more than a decade, said the entire community has suffered a great loss.
"I know that I speak for everyone here at The Citizen, and across Glacier Media, when I say that we have not only lost a colleague but a great friend today," she said. "He is someone who was dear to all of us. Matt was a kind and gentle man who would go out of his way to help anyone, and patience was his hallmark.
"We grieve over the loss of Matt and his family in this difficult time."
Editor's Note - I've received word of confirmation of the death of the 5th victim in the SUV but no word on his connection to the 4 others killed in the SUV but his/her name is not been released as of Feb 9th at 9:09pm
Update #2 - Video (Courtesy of Welcome to Williams Lake): (as of 10:40pm)
Update #3 - Courtesy of Prince George Citizen:
The 5th victim is identified, by the PG Citzen, as Heather Kress, an adult family member of the Altizer family. Read more here
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