Family of four killed in B.C. crash

An Edmonton couple and their two young children are dead after a crash Wednesday night near Barriere, B.C., that was so horrific even a veteran Mountie was shaken.

“It looks like a piece of metal. You couldn’t tell the make,” Barriere Mayor Bill Humphreys said of the family’s vehicle. “It’s not good.”

The crash happened around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, when the family’s Suzuki Grand Vitara crossed the centre line on a two-lane section of Highway 5 and hit a semi. A 37-year-old woman, a 47-yearold man, a seven-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl died at the scene.

The accident happened 65 kilometres north of Kamloops on Highway 5. Ice on the road likely was a factor in the crash.

RCMP Const. Bart Doerr was the first to arrive at the crash scene.

“It’s tough,” said Doerr, the father of two young children. “No words will explain a scene like that. It’s horrific.”

The names of the dead haven’t been released by rcmp. Police believe the family was headed to California.

The driver of the truck sus- tained minor injuries.

Humphreys said it rained in the area Wednesday, then the temperature dropped, making for “horrible” road conditions.

He said the crash left debris strewn along the road and left even the licence plate of the vehicle unrecognizable.

A veteran Mountie with 11 years on the force and six years in traffic investigation, Doerr said the crash scene was difficult for emergency crews.

“It’s nothing that we want to have to attend to, but we have to, so you go in and do your best to deal with the situation and investigate it properly,” he said.