(UPDATE) Two taken to hospital after vehicle incident closes Highway 97

Update, January 8th, 10:45 a.m.: This article was updated to add details from the Fort St. John RCMP’s press release.

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — Two people were hospitalized and a route was closed following an accident on Highway 97 yesterday.

According to DriveBC, a vehicle incident on the evening of Tuesday, January 6th resulted in a closure between 259th Road and East Bypass Road on Highway 97, the Alaska Highway, three kilometres south of Fort St. John.

The Fort St. John RCMP confirmed in a media release on January 7th the closure was a direct result of a two-vehicle collision. Corporal Shawn Ingham, the detachment’s media relations officer, said five people in the two vehicles escaped “serious injury.”

Brian Twaites, paramedic public information officer with BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS), said crews received a call about the incident at 5:26 p.m.

“Two ambulances attended the scene,” said Twaites. “Primary care paramedics provided emergency medical care and transported two patients to the hospital in serious but stable condition.”

The highway’s lanes were closed in both directions for about five hours. The RCMP says an investigation into the collision is ongoing.