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Serious Crash Closes Highway

Dec 15, 2017 | 10:07 AM

Two men were taken to hospital with serious injuries in a crash that forced the closure of Highway 97 through West Kelowna overnight.

Police say a loud crash and explosion were heard in the Dobbin Road area around 1:25 this morning, right across from the  RCMP detachment.

An officer rushed outside and found a large fire along the highway, and a severely damaged Honda Civic down an embankment and in a field below.

One of the occupants, a 26-year-old Vancouver man, whom police believe was the driver, was ejected nearly 15 metres from the vehicle and was found unconscious.

He in hospital with potentially life threatening injuries.

A second male occupant, a 32 year old man from West Kelowna, was trapped inside the vehicle.

He was removed and taken to hospital, also with serious injures.

The cause remains under investigation.

“Highway traffic had been diverted for several hours around the scene, as a collision reconstructionist, with the RCMP Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS) fully examined the scene of the crash,” says RCMP Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey.

The highway has since reopened.