BC Coroner identifies three women killed in Vancouver Island highway crash

VICTORIA – Three young women from Nanaimo, B.C. have been identified as victims of a horrific car crash on Vancouver Island.

The BC Coroners Service says the women are 16-year-old Gene Jamisola, 19-year-old Diane Bocacao and 30-year-old Pheat Top.

The trio was travelling with two others in a car along Highway 1, near Shawnigan Lake, northwest of Victoria, on Sunday about 11:30 a.m.

Coroner spokeswoman Barb McLintock says the car collided with a vehicle travelling the opposite direction.

All three women were pronounced dead at the scene, while two other people were flown to a hospital in Victoria.

McLintock says there were heavy rains in the area at the time, but investigators have not yet determined the cause of the crash.