Fatal crash near Duncan closes Trans-Canada Highway for several hours

Fatal crash near Duncan closes Trans-Canada Highway for several hours
File Photo

The Trans-Canada Highway was closed down for nearly four hours on Thursday morning following a fatal single-vehicle crash near Duncan.

The incident took place just before midnight on December 15, when North Cowichan / Duncan RCMP was contacted by a passenger who advised they had just been involved in a collision.

The passenger who contacted police informed officers that they were currently trapped in the vehicle and the driver had been ejected.

When RCMP arrived at the crash location, they found a black Ford F-150 had travelled down an embankment on the southbound lanes, coming to a rest on the driver’s side door.

Police say that they found four uninjured occupants still inside the vehicle, trapped and unable to get out.

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BC Ambulance Service and North Cowichan Fire Department personnel also attended the scene and helped RCMP remove the trapped passengers.

Once the passengers were removed, the 25-year-old driver from Duncan was located underneath the vehicle, succumbing to her injuries and pronounced dead at the scene.

It is too early in the investigation to speculate on the cause of the collision said Sergeant Chris Manseau, BC RCMP media relations officer ICARS, the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service, is investigating this collision. The highway was closed for approximately 4 hours reopening early this morning.

The vehicle has since been removed from the scene of the crash and has been seized for further examination.

Police are asking for anyone who may have witnessed the collision to contact the North Cowichan RCMP at 250-748-5522.

Graham CoxGraham Cox

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