The Sunshine Coast is in mourning after two well-known girls from Gibsons were killed in a tragic two-car accident on Hwy. 101 Wednesday morning.
Trina Borley and Hannah Anderson, both outgoing, athletic and popular students, were travelling northbound in a white, 1990 Toyota Tercel hatchback when the accident occurred.
Hannah, 17, and Trina, 16, had been friends since elementary school and played together on the Elphinstone Secondary senior girls basketball team last season. Trina would have been 17 in a week.
Sunshine Coast RCMP were advised of the accident just before 10 a.m. in the 6800 block north of Sechelt. RCMP, ambulance attendants from Sechelt and an air ambulance from Vancouver were dispatched to the scene.
"The Toyota was travelling through an S-curve on the highway when the driver lost control and slid into the oncoming [southbound] lane," said Sgt. Gerry Webb in a news release. "The Toyota was hit in the passenger side by a blue, 2003 Dodge Ram pick-up truck travelling southbound. The driver of the pick-up, a 33-year-old man from Halfmoon Bay, was unable to avoid the collision. He stopped his vehicle immediately after the accident and went to assist the occupants of the other vehicle."
Webb said the man was not injured in the accident. Weather conditions at the time of the accident were overcast with heavy rain and the surface of the road was wet and slippery.
"Ambulance attendants examined the two female occupants of the Toyota, but were unable to revive them. Both girls succumbed to their injuries," Webb added.
Police and accident analyst Const. Kurt Rosenberg investigated the accident.
Hwy. 101 was closed in both directions from shortly after the time of the accident until approximately 1 p.m. One lane was opened at that time to allow alternating traffic flow in both directions.
School officials have set up counselling for fellow students at the school. On Thursday morning, a memorial was set up by friends at the scene of the crash.
Wednesday's accident was just one of a series of serious accidents police and emergency personnel have been dealing with in the past few weeks.
RCMP are still investigating a serious accident involving two local mountain bikers (see page A7).
In another incident, the driver of a Mazda sports car involved in an accident on June 28 in Roberts Creek suffered broken ribs, a lacerated lung, lacerations to the head and many other minor lacerations from flying glass.
The driver of the sports car collided with a pick-up truck, according to preliminary findings by police.
