Highway 99 reopens after head-on collision kills 2

Highway 99 has been reopened with significant delays following a head-on collision that left two women dead and two others in hospital Saturday morning. 

According to RCMP, at around 7:35 a.m. PT, a northbound Jeep Cherokee with Washington State license plates carrying four passengers — all women between 19 and 20-years-old — lost control and collided head-on with a Chevrolet pick-up truck about 5 km north of Lions Bay. 

The accident occurred on an undivided stretch of highway with one lane running in each direction. The four young women are believed to have been on their way to Whistler. 

Insp. Tim Shields says two women in the northbound Cherokee died at the scene, and the two other passengers were taken to hospital. One is in serious condition, while the other remains stable. 

Two of the women are Canadian, and two are American, but the nationalities of the victims remains unclear. 

The driver of the truck had only minor injuries and walked away from the scene, according to Shields.

Squamish RCMP from Sea to Sky detachment are investigating and are trying to contact the families of the women involved in the accident. 

Police say they are looking at the possibility that ice may have contributed to the accident. 

"We do know the collision occurred at about 7:30, and at that time the temperature was about zero degrees. And there was some frost, potentially icy conditions in certain areas," says Shields. 

Highway 99 was closed in both directions for o ver ten hours while police investigated the potential causes of the accident.