North Vancouver woman killed, 4 injured, in B.C. crash

Highways 97 near the Mackenzie Junction gas station and rest stop. (The Mackenzie Junction, Facebook)

Police in northern British Columbia are searching for witnesses after a highway collision killed a 28-year-old woman and sent four other people to hospital over the weekend.

The B.C. Highway Patrol says officers were called to the two-vehicle crash on Highway 97 near the community of Mackenzie at around 1:45 p.m. Saturday.

A black Dodge Ram 3500 pickup truck was towing a flat-deck trailer when it collided with a black Ford Bronco near Bijoux Falls Provincial Park, police said in a statement Monday.

Four ground ambulances with primary care paramedics and one air ambulance with advanced care paramedics were dispatched to the scene, along with two paramedic supervisor units, according to a spokesperson for B.C. Emergency Health Services.

The 28-year-old victim, identified as a North Vancouver woman, was riding in the Bronco with a driver and one other passenger – both of whom were injured, police said. The driver and a passenger in the Ram were also injured and transported to hospital for treatment.

“One was transported by air ambulance to hospital in stable condition,” BCEHS said in an emailed statement Monday. “Three other patients were transported by ground ambulance to hospital in stable condition.”

Cpl. Michael McLaughlin of the B.C. Highway Patrol says officers are “very interested in how these vehicles were driving in the minutes leading up to the collision.”

Investigators are asking anyone who witnessed the vehicles prior to the collision to contact police. “If you have dash camera footage, that’s also crucial,” McLaughlin added, in the statement.