COLUMBIA VALLEY, B.C. — A California family who died in a fiery crash along a mountainous British Columbia highway last week have been identified.
Media reports and a website launched by friends of the family say they are Robert Howard, 49, Ana-Maria Dias, 50, and their daughters Samantha, 12, and Veronica, 9.
The family, who had travelled from Palo Alto, Calif., died on Friday.
“Truly a devastating loss to all who knew and loved this wonderful family,” stated Jennifer Allen, one of those who posted comments on the website www.robertandanamaria.com. “There are no words to express what has been taken. We will miss them.”
“It is almost impossible to accept this terrible tragedy has happened,” another friend, Marjorie Stotts, wrote.
“We talked to Robert and Ana-Maria last weekend and they were so excited about their trip and looking forward to it.”
British Columbia RCMP have not yet identified the victims, but Cpl. Dan Moskaluk said in an email to the Canadian Press that police are confident the family is from Palo Alto, Calif.
“Autopsies and hopefully dental records will assist with positive ID of the deceased,” he added.
The crash happened along a winding, three-lane stretch of Highway 93 in the province’s Kootenay National Park.
A tractor-trailer jackknifed and collided with a camper van, which was towing a small SUV.
Initially, investigators didn’t know how many people were in the camper.
“Canadian border records indicate that the family had just entered British Columbia while on vacation back on (Thursday),” said Moskaluk.
The RCMP had earlier reported the crash involved a fuel tanker, but Moskaluk said it was actually a tractor-trailer pulling two empty flat-deck trailers.
Moskaluk said it appeared the tractor-trailer was coming down a hill when it crossed the centre line and jackknifed across the highway, pinning the camper van, which was in the oncoming lane, against a concrete post as it caught fire.
The driver of the camper van attempted to avoid the tractor-trailer, said Moskaluk, but wasn’t able to prevent the crash.
Investigators still don’t know what caused the crash, which happened in a stretch of highway with a 60-kilometre-per-hour speed limit. Roads were wet at the time, said Moskaluk.
The driver of the tractor-trailer was detained and questioned by police, but was released without charge as the investigation continues.
According to the website dedicated to the family, Howard was an engineer and vice-president of an engineering and industrial-design firm and Dias was a community volunteer.
Samantha was entering middle school and Veronica was in elementary school.