A head-on collision was the cause of Thursday morning’s fatal crash along the Trans-Canada Highway in B.C.’s Interior, police confirmed.
Police say their initial investigation of the incident near Spence’s Bridge determined that two commercial vehicles collided while negotiating a curve on the two-lane road.
Officers from Ashcroft RCMP and BC Highway Patrol, plus emergency health services, rushed to the scene.
Video of the crash, which took place just before 7 a.m., showed scrap metal littering the highway and one of the semi-trucks on fire.
“The northbound tractor-trailer came to a rest down a steep embankment and on the CN track below,” said BC Highway Patrol.
“A fire ensued and the driver of the northbound tractor-trailer, a Lower Mainland male, was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Police say the driver of the southbound tractor-trailer was uninjured and is cooperating with the investigation.
The highway was closed for several hours, along with the nearby railway tracks, but has since reopened.
BC Highway Patrol says its Kamloops detachment has taken conduct of the investigation.
“All avenues of investigation are being considered,” said BCHP. “However, impairment by drugs or alcohol have been ruled out as a factor in the crash.”
Anyone who may have information about the collision, including dashcam video, is asked to contact the BCHL detachment in Kamloops at 250-828-3111, extension 2.