Radio Station Wolf FM supplied this photo of the aftermath of an accident between a tractor trailer and an SUV collided on Highway 97 near McLeese Lake, which is located between Quesnel, B.C., and Williams Lake, B.C., on Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012.The Canadian Press
A family of four from Prince George is among the dead in a fiery highway collision in Central Interior B.C., according to a local newspaper.
Police say five people were killed Thursday when the SUV they were travelling in veered across a highway and slammed into an oncoming 18-wheel tractor trailer.
The Prince George Citizen reported that one of its employees, Matt Altizer, was killed along with his wife Leah and their two children, Jonathan and Emily. Mr. Altizer worked as a systems manager at the newspaper.
The collision between the northbound trailer and southbound SUV – which sparked a fire that consumed both vehicles – occurred at 9:30 a.m. local time Thursday. The fire smouldered throughout the day, creating a sobering spectacle for residents of McLeese Lake, a community of about 300 people between Quesnel and Williams Lake, where the accident occurred.
"We know the SUV crossed the centre lane into the path of the truck. At this point, we don't know why," said RCMP Corporal Madonna Saunderson.
She said the roads were bare, and an independent witness who was driving behind the SUV said there was no indication the driver of the SUV was driving erratically or irresponsibly.
While the occupants of the SUV were all killed, the driver of the truck managed to escape before his vehicle was consumed by flames, she said. The driver was taken to hospital as a precaution but was not injured.
Mr. Altizer and his family were on their way to Vancouver where they planned to attend a Davis Cup tennis match, according to the Citizen.
The corporal said early Thursday evening that officers had fanned out in an unspecified area of B.C. to notify next of kin of the dead in the SUV, and she would not have any further comment on who they were until that process was complete.
One local resident said friends coming to visit turned back when, from the highway, they saw the black smoke as they approached the community.
"They said it was horrendous. They had to turn back and said they might not be arriving. This was just before 10," said the woman, who declined to be identified. "It gives everyone a shock. It's a small area and you wonder could it be someone you know locally. So far we know it's not."
Cpl. Saunderson said she did not have any information on the origins of the truck, but an employee who answered the phone at TransX, which is based in Winnipeg, said the trailer belonged to the company. The man, who declined to give his name, said the truck and its driver appeared to be from another company that was contracted by TransX to carry one of its shipments.
Donna Forseille, driving upon the scene soon after the collision, said the large truck was in the ditch and across three lanes of the highway, engulfed in flames from its cab to almost the rear of the trailer.
"It had just happened moments after I got there," said the operator of the McLeese Lake Resort.
She said she saw no sign of an SUV and assumed it was completely destroyed in the collision.
Greg Foster, owner of the local Oasis Pub, said he didn't see the SUV when he passed by, and figured it was probably beneath the truck. He said there have been other accidents on the stretch of highway where Thursday's crash occurred, with five or six such collisions taking place in the last 17 years.
"That road is notorious for people speeding," he said.
Mr. Foster said the accident is a reminder that such a small place needs better fire services. "We don't have a fire department in the area," he said. "One truck from a further district came out to service our area."
Earlier this week, a collision between a 15-seat passenger van and a flatbed truck killed 11 people in southwestern Ontario.
With reports from Kim Mackrael and The Canadian Press
Ian Bailey