Impaired driver suspected in Coquihalla crash that killed 2 Friday: RCMP

British ColumbiaPolice are investigating a suspected impaired driver following a crash on the Coquihalla Highway last week that left two women, aged 36 and 27, dead and three more seriously injured. 2 women, aged 36 and 27, died in Friday night crashCBC News · Posted: Sep 08, 2025 5:22 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours agoA crash on the Coquihalla Highway last Friday left two women dead, and three more people hurt. Police say one driver is suspected of impaired driving. (B.C. RCMP)Police are investigating a suspected impaired driver following a crash on the Coquihalla Highway last week that left two people dead and three more seriously injured. Shortly before 9 p.m. PT on Friday, police received reports about a vehicle driving the wrong way down the northbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway, just south of Kamloops. Before officers were able to intercept it, the vehicle crashed head on into another car. Two women, aged 36 and 27, were killed. Three others were injured, including the suspect, according to Cpl. Michael McLaughlin with B.C. Highway Patrol.In an earlier news release, RCMP suggested criminal behaviour may have caused the crash. On Monday, police said the investigation has led them to look into suspected impaired driving. McLaughlin said police are busy writing warrants, including blood warrants, and collecting evidence from the hospital. He said the investigation will take months, or perhaps even years, to complete. Police are looking for witnesses to the events leading up to the crash, and dash cam footage from the area. This comes as B.C. Highway Patrol releases the results of its summer campaign targeting impaired drivers.”Impaired driving is the leading cause of criminal death in B.C.,” said B.C. Highway Patrol Supt. Mike Coyle. “It’s simply unacceptable to think that it’s OK to drive while impaired by alcohol or drugs.”From June 15 to Aug. 31, highway patrol took 626 impaired drivers off the road. Of those, 150 were in Metro Vancouver, the Sea-to-Sky region and the eastern Fraser Valley, 146 were in northern B.C., 131 were on Vancouver Island, 111 were in central B.C. and 88 were in the Kootenay region.