Coroner identifies Kelowna residents who died in crash near Quesnel

Quesnel – The B.C. Coroners Service has identified two Kelowna area residents who died in a head-on collision near Quesnel Thursday.

They were Brian Scott Knutson, 48, of Westbank and Alma Helen Wert, 70, of Kelowna. The third person who died, 73-year-old Shirley Wakefield, was from New Hazelton.

Knutson was the sole occupant of a pickup truck travelling north on Highway 97 just after 7 a.m. Sept. 4. He was about 10 kilometres south of Quesnel , near the intersection of Sales Road when he crashed head-on with a southbound SUV driven by Wakefield, with Wert in the passenger seat. All three died at the scene. Conditions at the time of the accident were foggy.

The three were among 20 people who have been killed in auto accidents over the past week in B.C. 

The families of those who died have been notified. The B.C. Coroners Service and RCMP continue to investigate these deaths.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Adam Proskiw at aproskiw@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-0428. To contact the editor, email mjones@infotelnews.ca or call 250-718-2724.