Driver dies after running red light on Alaska Highway, Charlie Lake

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The RCMP attended the scene on the Alaska Highway (Highway 97). (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A person has passed away in a vehicle incident between an SUV and a tanker truck which closed Highway 97 yesterday.

On August 11th, DriveBC announced a portion of the Alaska Highway in Charlie Lake at the Highway 97 intersection with 269 Road was closed due to a “vehicle incident.”

In an August 12th press release, the Fort St. John RCMP confirmed the incident was a two-vehicle collision between an SUV and a tanker truck which occurred at approximately 1:40 p.m. on August 11th.

RCMP, BC Ambulance Service and Charlie Lake and Fort St. John Fire Services all responded to the scene.

Constable Chad Neustaeter, a media relations officer with Fort St. John RCMP, explained the driver of the SUV was declared dead at the scene of the accident.

“Fort St John RCMP frontline police officers determined that a southbound SUV failed to stop for a red light and collided with the tanker truck while the tanker truck was turning left onto Highway 97 from 269 Road,” Neustaeter said.

The highway remained closed during a collision analysis and reconstruction services examination, and has since been reopened.