A Pakistani family looking to start new lives in Edmonton instead had them snuffed out in an instant on the Trans-Canada Highway near Golden, B.C., Sunday as they travelled to Abbotsford.
Police have not released the names of the six people killed in the head-on collision with a motorhome just 20 kilometres east of Golden, but media reports identify the victims as 47-year-old Arshad Mahmood, his wife Shakila, their two daughters, aged 13 and 15, and Mahmood’s father.
The family has left behind an 11-year-old boy, who was being driven in another vehicle at the time.
The 14-year-old daughter of family friends was also killed when the minivan drifted over the centre line and collided with the eastbound motorhome, according to witnesses.
“Both the driver and front passenger of the minivan were wearing seatbelts,” Cpl. Dan Moskaluk, an RCMP spokesperson, said in a release. “However, given the nature of the collision and size of the motorhome involved, it is clear that they suffered severe trauma from the impact of the collision.”
Moskaluk added that all four passengers in the back of the van were not wearing seatbelts.
RCMP believe driver inattention or fatigue likely caused the collision.
