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Family of four killed in KNP crash
A terrifying crash near Kootenay National Park’s (KNP) Olive Lake claimed the lives of a family of four on July 22.
Robert Howard, 48, his wife Ana-Maria Dias, 50, and their daughters Samantha, 12, and Veronica, 9, all of Palo Alta, Calif., were killed when their 1972 Dodge camper van, which was towing a 1988 Suzuki Sidekick, was pinned against a concrete barrier by a 2003 Volvo flat deck b-train tractor trailer. The truck had apparently stopped earlier on the steep, winding stretch of road near the Kindersley Pass trailhead and was rolling backward when the van approached. The truck, carrying propane, then veered sharply over the centre line, pinning the van, against the barrier and exploding.
Passersby were able to free the driver of the truck, registered in Langley, but the inferno was too severe for anyone to do anything for the family, who were heading to Banff and Jasper national parks for a camping holiday.
“Evidence and information indicate that the driver of the van made all efforts possible to avoid the collision with the truck by driving onto the shoulder of the road. However, the van driver was unable to avoid the collision,” stated RCMP media liaison Cpl. Dan Moskaluk in a news release.
The truck driver was released without charge after questioning by police.
Road conditions at the time were wet. The accident, which occurred at about 3 p.m. on a busy Friday afternoon, closed Highway 93 until 5 a.m. the next morning. Traffic had to be re-routed to the Columbia Valley via the Trans-Canada and Highway 95 south from Golden.
Anyone who may have seen the vehicles prior to the crash or may have taken video footage or photographs of the crash is being asked to contact the RCMP East Kootenay IRSU at (250)420-4244.
Ian Cobb/e-KNOW
