One dead in single-vehicle crash on Highway 3 near Princeton

Drunk driving is suspected after a 19-year-old woman died when a pickup truck left Highway 3 east of Princeton and when down an embankment into the Similkameen River.

According to a B.C. Highway Patrol media release, the single-vehicle incident took place Aug. 5 at 2:45 a.m on Highway 3 east of Princeton near Bromley Rock.

Police say the 2022 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck left the highway and ended up in the Similkameen River where it partially submerged.

A 19-year-old woman from the South Okanagan died as a result of the collision. The second occupant, a 38-year-old man, was not injured. The media release does not say which occupant was driving the truck.

"Impaired driving is suspected as a contributing cause to this collision and BC Highway Patrol Keremeos has assumed conduct of the investigation with assistance from Princeton RCMP, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service and the BC Coroners’ Service. Where criminality is suspected as a causal factor in a fatal collision, BC Highway Patrol’s Criminal Collision Investigation Team is activated to assist investigators due, in part, to the complexity of these lengthy and technical investigations," the release says.

Police are asking anyone with any information including dash camera footage of the vehicle prior to the incident to contact B.C. Highway Patrol Keremeos at 250-499-2250 and reference file 2022-3598.

READ MORE: Two dead following crash on Highway 97 just south of Vernon

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