A small First Nation community west of Williams Lake is in mourning after two people died in a snowmobile accident Friday night.
Sgt. Scott Clay of the Anahim Lake RCMP said the collision occurred on a long straight stretch of road in a residential area of the Ulkatcho First Nation where a snowmobile struck a parked logging truck.
“Both occupants of the snow machine were from the Ulkatcho First Nation and were pronounced dead at the scene,” Clay said.
Andy Watson of the BC Coroners Service confirmed his office is investigating the death of a male in his mid-30s and a female in her early 30s.
“Due to the privacy of the deceased the Coroners Service does not release or confirm the identity of the deceased,” Watson noted.
All emergency services from the small community, located approximately 320 kilometres west of Williams Lake, responded to incident including the RCMP, RCMP Victim Services, Emergency Health Services (EHS) and nurses from the Anahim Lake Nursing Station who tended to the victims within minutes.
Community member Graham West said it was very important to give thanks to all the first responders to the tragedy.
“Both were well known, loved by all and will be dearly missed by the whole community,” West said Monday. “My whole community is still in a state of shock, the mourning process has slowly set in.”
On Saturday grieving community members took to social media to organize a gathering at the community hall in honour of the victims that evening.
It is believed the victims have ties not only to Ulkatcho First Nation, but also Tl’etinqox (Anaham) First Nation.
Read more: Four killed in separate B.C. highway crashes in first week of 2019
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