British Columbia

Crash kills 15-year-old in Ladysmith, B.C.

The 16-year-old driver and the other two passengers sustained minor injuries.

Police believe speed may have been a factor after vehicle carrying 4 people plunged down embankment

The embankment where a vehicle with four people inside rolled down, coming to rest on Reiber Road in front of a residence. (Kendall Hanson/CHEK News)

A 15-year-old is dead in Ladysmith, B.C., after four people in a vehicle plunged down a steep embankment.

RCMP say they were told of a single vehicle crash on Reiber Road just before 5 a.m. PT Saturday morning. 

When officers arrived, they found the 15-year-old front seat passenger dead.

The 16-year-old driver and the other two passengers had sustained minor injuries. 

Police say that a preliminary investigation shows the vehicle was travelling on Brenton Page Road when it rolled almost 50 metres down a steep embankment and landed on Reiber Road.

A broken tree on an embankment off Brenton Page Road in Ladysmith B.C. where a crash took the life of 15-year-old on Saturday June 9, 2018. (Kendall Hanson/CHEK News)

The vehicle came to a stop right in front of Brian McCullough's house.

"We heard the crash and we could hear the kids were pretty frantic so that's what we woke up to," said McCullough. "We came up to the road and obviously the vehicle had come down over the embankment."

Police said they believe speed may have been a factor in the crash. 

Safety review?

McCullough says other vehicles have plummeted down the embankment in the past, although there are cement barriers in some sections.

He wants the province to review the stretch of road for safety improvements

Ladysmith resident Brian McCullough says the vehicle came to a stop just outside his home and it's not the first to crash down the embankment. (Kendall Hanson/CHEK News)

"I'm a father and a grandfather and I just can't imagine what the family is going through," he said about the death.

Police said the deceased was a resident of Cedar, B.C. Police have not released a name.

With files from CHEK News.