Driver and passenger in car driving wrong way on Trans-Canada Hwy killed in crash

The Independent Investigations Office of British Columbia (IIO BC) has been deployed following a double fatal crash involving a car driving the wrong direction on BC’s Trans-Canada Highway.

At 4 am on Tuesday morning, Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment RCMP received a call of a car going the wrong way on Highway 1 near Laidlaw.

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The IIO says an officer turned and followed the vehicle after finding it driving westbound in the eastbound lanes near the Annis Road exit.

A second officer deployed a spike belt to try to stop the vehicle, but the car “was able to avoid it,” according to the police watchdog.

A short time later the car hit a second vehicle, which caused a fire that officers were unable to extinguish. One person from the second vehicle was extricated and sent to hospital with serious injuries.

However, the driver and passenger in the suspect vehicle were not able to be extracted and were pronounced dead at the scene. Their names, and possible factors behind the accident, have not been made public.

The IIO is now investigating to determine if police actions leading up to the accident are linked to the deaths.