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Two UBC students killed in crash while driving to Whistler | The Ubyssey, UBC's official student newspaper

Two UBC students were killed and two others injured in a car accident while driving to Whistler Saturday morning.

The four women, between the ages of 19 and 20, were driving north on the Sea to Sky Highway in a Jeep Cherokee when their vehicle crossed the median and collided head-on with a Chevy pickup truck, RCMP said. The driver lost control of the vehicle going around a bend in the road.

“This is a tragedy beyond words.”

— Tim Shields, Lower Mainland RCMP inspector
“This is a tragedy beyond words,” Tim Shields, an inspector with Lower Mainland RCMP, told Global News.

The crash occurred around 7:35 a.m. about five kilometres north of Lions Bay. While there were reports of ice on the roads in the area, Shields told the Associated Press the RCMP were not sure if that was the cause of the crash.

The two women who survived the crash were taken to Vancouver General Hospital and one is in serious condition, police said. The driver of the pickup was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

All four women were second-year students at UBC, according to multiple sources who knew the women. The two killed in the crash were from California and Ontario, a source told The Ubyssey.

Earlier in the day, RCMP said they were still investigating and did not know the identities of the victims, but confirmed two of the women were American and two were Canadian. Their car had Washington state license plates.

When contacted late Saturday night, Squamish RCMP declined to comment on the crash. An RCMP spokesman unrelated to the investigation said information about the victims would not be released until the end of the investigation, which would likely take several days.

Two students injured in Sea to Sky collision expected to recover | The Ubyssey, UBC's official student newspaper

The two UBC students injured in a car accident while driving to Whistler yesterday are still hospitalized but expected to recover, according to friends of the women. The collision also killed two UBC students.

The four women, between the ages of 19 and 20, were driving north on the Sea to Sky Highway in a Jeep Cherokee when their vehicle crossed the median and collided head-on with a Chevy pickup truck, RCMP said. The driver of the Jeep lost control of the vehicle while going around a bend in the road. The driver of the pickup was treated at the scene for minor injuries.

The woman in serious condition is at Vancouver General Hospital. Two friends of the woman said they were told she is expected to survive.

The woman with less severe injuries is recovering at Lions Gate Hospital in North Vancouver, a friend told The Ubyssey. The second-year Arts student, 19, is accompanied by her family there, friends said. Her recovery is expected to take at least weeks and possibly months.

The crash occurred around 7:35 a.m. about five kilometres north of Lions Bay. While there were reports of ice on the roads in the area, RCMP inspector Tim Shields told the Associated Press the RCMP were not sure if that was the cause of the crash.

All four women were second-year students at UBC, according to multiple sources who knew the women. The two killed in the crash were from California and Ontario, a source told The Ubyssey.

UBC spokesperson Lucie McNeill said the university was unaware if the women involved were students at the university and said confidentiality laws would preclude UBC from disclosing that information without the families’ consent. However, she said the university would support student efforts to organize a memorial for those who died if they did, in fact, attend UBC.

“I have to say it’s a terrible tragedy,” McNeill said. She said that the university does not have specific procedures in place to handle the death of current students because it is a relatively rare occurrence.

On Saturday, RCMP said they were still investigating and did not know the identities of the victims, but confirmed two of the women were American and two were Canadian.

When contacted late Saturday night, Squamish RCMP declined to comment on the crash. An RCMP spokesman unrelated to the investigation said more information about the crash would not be available until the conclusion of the investigation, which would likely take several days.