A woman is dead and a man is in critical condition after a car carrying four people slammed into the back of a logging truck in Port McNeill on Thursday.
The collision occurred at about 8 a.m. on Highway 19, approximately two kilometres south of Beaver Cove Road.
Port McNeill RCMP said a southbound vehicle apparently drove into the rear of an empty logging truck stopped in the southbound lane on the highway.
A preliminary police investigation indicates the driver of the logging truck had stopped on the highway, activated his emergency hazard lights and was waiting to get around an RCMP police officer who had pulled over a vehicle some distance ahead, said Cpl. Diane Schwager of North Vancouver Island Traffic Services.
The driver of the vehicle was airlifted to hospital in critical condition. The female passenger was pronounced dead at the scene, said Schwager.
Two other passengers in the vehicle received minor injuries. The driver of the logging truck was not injured.
RCMP are asking anyone who has information about the collision to contact North Vancouver Island Traffic Services at 250-286-5646.
The highway was closed for several hours, re-opening at about 1 p.m.
