2 women in their 60s pronounced dead at scene, 7 taken to hospital, police say

Police say the driver of an SUV that struck a wedding celebration in West Vancouver, B.C., on Saturday, killing two people, remains in hospital as investigators look into whether speed or a medical incident was involved in the crash.

Const. Nicole Braithwaite of the West Vancouver Police Department told a news conference Monday that the scene of the incident at the 400-block of Keith Road was “chaotic.”

She says two women in their 60s were pronounced dead at the scene, and seven people were taken to hospital, two in critical condition.

On Saturday, B.C. Emergency Health Services reported 10 people had been taken to hospital. Police did not provide a reason for the discrepancy in numbers but the health agency later said there had been a “reporting error” and confirmed that nine people had been transported to the hospital.

Those taken to hospital include the driver of the 2016 Range Rover that struck the celebration.

Braithwaite says the driver, who is also in her 60s, was leaving her home via a driveway shared with the property where the wedding party was taking place around 6:10 p.m. PT when the crash happened.

‘An absolute tragedy’

Cpl. Dave Noon of the Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service says officers will seek a warrant for the SUV’s “black box” data recorder as they try to establish what happened and whether charges will be recommended.

“We don’t have the answers yet as to what took place,” Noon told the news conference, although speed and a possible medical issue were both being considered.

Noon said investigators were assisting West Vancouver police to compile a “comprehensive report that may be provided to Crown.”

He said he has attended hundreds of fatal collisions in his eight years on the job — all of them tragic — but it was the first time his unit has been called to a wedding.

Braithwaite said the crash was “an absolute tragedy” and happened on “what should have been somebody’s happiest day of their lives.”

“This is a difficult moment in time for the families of the victims, the witnesses who were present, the driver who was involved and all the emergency services who attended this event,” Braithwaite said.