Two teens have been recovered from the Pend Oreille River after a fatal accident on Sunday afternoon.
A Volkswagon Beetle driven by a woman from Salmo drove off the road at a curve on Seven Mile Dam Road near Trail.
The vehicle went down a steep embankment, and into the river.
The front passenger, a 15-year-old girl from Warfield, and the driver, managed to get out of the submerged vehicle and to the surface. However, two other occupants did not surface.
A 15-year-old boy and 18-year-old girl both from Fruitvale were missing and presumed deceased.
Yesterday, the RCMP Underwater Recovery Team was successful in locating the vehicle, a Volkswagon Beetle, from the river.
Tragically, both missing teens were located and confirmed deceased.
“The conditions were difficult and the recovery operation took a significant amount of time to complete,” said the West Kootenay Traffic Services.
RCMP said that with the cooperation of the Dam authority, BC Hydro helped the operation in lowering the water level so they could retrieve the vehicle.
“As the RCMP continues the investigation, we are asking anyone who may have witnessed the vehicles driving prior to the crash, witnessed the crash, or saw the group of teens just prior to the crash to contact the West Kootenay Traffic Services,” they added.
The BC Coroners Service has been notified and will also be investigating. Anyone with information about the collision is asked to call West Kootenay Traffic Services at 250-354-5180.
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