Two dead after Chilliwack crash on Highway 1
Posted December 29, 2020 5:19 pm.
Last Updated December 29, 2020 5:21 pm.
CHILLIWACK (NEWS 1130) — A fiery crash in Chilliwack Tuesday has claimed the lives of two people and seriously hurt another, and now B.C.’s police watchdog has been called in.
Around 4 a.m., Mounties say they were called to respond to reports of a car going the wrong way on Highway 1 near Laidlaw — which is between Chilliwack and Hope.
JUST IN: @iiobc is looking into events that happened overnight around #ChilliwackBC – 2 people are dead & 1 is seriously hurt. There were closures along #Hwy1 earlier today, with one caller to @NEWS1130Traffic saying it was the one of the worst crash sites they’d seen this year.
— Ria Renouf (@riarenouf) December 29, 2020
RCMP in Chilliwack found the car going westbound in the eastbound lanes near Annis Road, and used a spike belt to try to stop the driver.
“The suspect vehicle continued to travel westbound in the eastbound lanes, then collided with a second vehicle travelling eastbound resulting in a fire. Officers attempted to extinguish the fire but were unsuccessful,” reads a release from RCMP.
“They were able to extract one person from the second vehicle who was transported to hospital with serious injuries, but were unable to extract the driver and a passenger from the suspect vehicle. They were pronounced dead at the scene.”
The Independent Investigations Office was called in to determine whether “police actions” contributed to the deaths.
