B.C.’s police watchdog is investigating after three people died in a crash in Chilliwack early Tuesday.
The Independent Investigations Office of B.C. said RCMP received a report around 4 a.m. of a vehicle travelling in the wrong direction on Highway 1 near Laidlaw.
An RCMP officer then spotted a vehicle heading westbound in the eastbound lanes near Annis Road.
Police attempted to use a spike belt but the driver avoided it.
A short time later the vehicle collided head-on with a vehicle travelling eastbound and caught fire. Officers tried to extinguish the blaze but were unsuccessful.
Two people in the suspect vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene. A person in the eastbound vehicle died in hospital.
The IIO, which investigates police-related incidents involving death or serious harm, is working to determine whether police actions are linked to the deaths.
Earlier this week, the IIO said it was probing a high-speed crash on Highway 1 that sent multiple people to hospital on Sunday morning.
— With files from The Canadian Press