Highway 33 East has reopened in both directions after a fatal head-on collision Monday morning.
It was around 8:29 am that the Kelowna RCMP received reports of a serious injury head on collision on the highway approximately 25 kilometres south of Big White Road in the Carmi area.
It’s believed a southbound Mazda van had crossed the centre line, to pass a semi-tractor trailer, when it collided head on with an older beige Ford 4-door sedan passenger car.
The Ford sedan rolled down an embankment and further impacted a tree.
The driver of the beige Ford sedan, a 73-year-old woman of Beaverdell, was pronounced deceased at the scene.
Police say preliminary findings at the scene also indicate that the woman was partially ejected from the vehicle during the collision as she was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
Her passenger, a 21-year-old man also of Beaverdell, sustained non-life threatening injuries and was treated in hospital.
The two occupants of the Mazda van sustained serious non-life threatening injuries as a result of the crash.
They were both transported to hospital in stable condition.
The driver of the Mazda van, a 35-year-old woman and her passenger, an 8-year-old girl, both from Kelowna, were treated at Kelowna General Hospital for non-life threatening injuries
The highway was closed in both directions for several hours while an RCMP Collision Reconstructionist conducted a detailed analysis of the scene.
The exact causal factors of this crash are not yet known.
RCMP Central Okanagan Traffic Services (COTS) and the RCMP Integrated Collision Analyst and Reconstructionist Services (ICARS), continue to assist the BC Coroner’s Service in this investigation.
If you witnessed this crash and have not yet spoken to police you are asked to contact RCMP Central Okanagan Traffic Services at 250-980-5353.
