Two people are dead after a semi-truck left Highway 97 and crashed down an embankment near Summit Lake early Monday, RCMP said.
Police said the crash happened around 4:45 a.m. March 3 near kilometre 605.
“The vehicle appeared to have broken through a guard rail before coming to rest down a steep embarkment,” said police in the Northern Rockies.
“First responders attended the scene and found both occupants of a loaded semi-truck and trailer were entrapped inside the cab of the vehicle and (both had) suffered fatal injuries,” the release from the local RCMP continued.
Police said poor weather conditions on Monday morning were a possible contributor.
No other vehicles were involved in the crash.
“While the investigation is in its infancy, road conditions appear to have been a factor in the crash,” said Staff Sgt. Kris Clark of the B.C. RCMP.
Highway 97 was closed in both directions after the incident, and will remain closed “for vehicle recovery,” said Mounties.
“Work continues to extract the vehicle and its load from the embankment,” Clark said.
The highway is expected to remain closed until at least this evening. Updates are being posted on DriveBC, which lists the situation as a “major incident.”
The RCMP investigation is ongoing. Anyone with dashcam footage of the semi-truck is asked to contact the Northern Rockies RCMP detachment.
