A 79-year-old grandfather is dead and his two teen grandsons suffered non-life threatening injuries after a single car accident on Highway 4 west of Port Alberni.
According to RCMP Const. Jen Allan, emergency crews responded to calls about an accident 32 kilometres west of Port Alberni at 3:45 p.m. on Friday.
The occupants were traveling from the West Coast to Port Alberni when the 79-year-old driver lost control of the vehicle and struck a rock face before launching into the air and landing on its roof.
The 79-year-old man was transported to Victoria General Hospital where he died of his injuries on Saturday morning.
The teens – ages 14 and 18 – were taken to West Coast General Hospital where they were treated for non life threatening injuries then released.
All three were from the Ahousaht First Nation, Allan said.
RCMP collision experts and the Central Island Highway Patrol are investigating the accident. Speed is likely a contributing factor, Allan said.
The vehicular fatality is the second in two months to befall the community of Ahousaht.
In August, tribe member Darrell E. Campbell, 49, was killed by a drunk driver in a two-car crash on Highway 12 near Port Angeles, Wash.
reporter@albernivalleynews.com