Two people are dead following a dangerous start to the long weekend on B.C. highways.
One woman was killed following a head-on crash on Highway 97 just north of Kelowna Saturday morning.
The victim from Manitoba was killed after a southbound pickup truck crossed the centre line and slammed into her sedan. The pickup then landed on the hood of a third car and exploded in flames.
According to police a male passenger in the sedan was taken to the hospital with serious head injuries and the driver of the pickup truck was taken to hospital with “lesser injuries.”
“Speed is believed to be one of the factors involved,” said Cst. Steve Holmes of Kelowna Traffic Services.
The crash happened just before 8:30 a.m. closing the highway in both directions for several hours.
Three ambulances, at least two fire trucks and the RCMP attended the scene.
A woman from Ontario was killed in a separate crash involving one car just north of Kamloops and two more collisions near Salmon Arm sent a victim to hospital by air ambulance.
Speed limits were increased by the province earlier this year on or near the crash sites.
- With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Tom Popyk
