Friends and family trying to cope after horrific crash near Golden, B.C.

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Family and friends are in shock as they cope with the loss of six people in a horrific crash outside of Golden B.C.

Five of the victims belonged to one Edmonton family.

The sixth victim was the daughter of friends the family was travelling with.

The crash happened Sunday morning, when a van slammed into a motorhome on the Trans Canada Highway just east of Golden.

Witnesses say they saw the van drift into the oncoming lane. Police believe driver fatigue or inattention were likely factors.

The RCMP will be doing an inspection to see if mechanical failure played a part.

While the victims haven’t been officially identified, friends say Arshad Mahmoud, his wife, his father and their two daughters were all killed.

The other victim is the teenaged daughter of the family friends that had been travelling with them.

The Mahmouds are being remembered as a loving and caring family that moved to Canada from Pakistan in 2006.

Friends tell the Calgary Sun Arshad was a very compassionate and helpful man who was liked by everyone.

One of the most heartbreaking facts is that the only survivor from the Mahmoud family is the 11-year-old son who had switched cars before the crash.

“He is holding his spirits very high, he is very confident. He came out and met us and thanked us for visiting him. He actually gave us all the courage because we were all very devastated,” says a family friend who rushed to Golden after hearing the news.

The Calgary Herald reports the grandfather killed was visiting from Pakistan because Arshad had wanted to convince him to move to Canada.

Four of the six victims were not wearing seatbelts. The two people in the motorhome were injured in the crash.

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