Two people are dead and three others injured in a serious crash that shut down a busy downtown Vancouver intersection on Monday.
A white SUV heading north on Seymour Street veered off the street just before 5:30 p.m. and hit a tree, sending it toppling onto the sidewalk in the path of pedestrians before striking a lamp post.
The two occupants of the SUV, a man and a woman, were killed instantly, said Vancouver police.
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Vancouver police are investigating a fatal crash at Seymour and Davie streets Monday afternoon.
Three others were injured by the fallen tree and flying debris. One man had minor injuries and lacerations. Two other men suffered more serious injuries, including broken bones and a punctured lung. They are expected to survive, but are listed in critical condition.
A couple hours after the crash a blue tarp covered the driver’s and passenger’s seat of the SUV, which was flipped on its side. On the sidewalk, scattered amid glass and metal debris, were mundane objects — a pack of tissue paper, bags of fruit, a red shoe.
Vancouver police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said investigators are still trying to determine what caused the crash. They have video footage of the incident and have talked to many witnesses, he said, but it was still too early to say whether alcohol or drugs or distracted driving were factors.
But what was clear was “the crash behind me clearly tells our officers that speed is going to be a factor here,” said Montague. “There’s no question about that. We are working to determine what that speed was, and if there were other factors.”
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Vancouver Police are investigating a fatal crash at Seymour and Davie Streets.
The sound of the single-vehicle crash was heard by some people in nearby stores, and by residents who live high up in nearby condo towers.
Francis Lin was at a Starbucks across the street when he heard a loud boom.
“I looked outside and it was this SUV on its side. It looked like it was wedged between two poles,” he said. “How fast must you have been going to saw off a tree? It’s pretty horrific. There’s no skid marks, no nothing.”
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Bobby Soor was working at a smoothie store just around the corner from the crash. He felt the crash’s vibrations and heard the sound of metal debris, including a crumpled newspaper box, scraping on concrete. When he got outside, he saw two men on the ground. Both had lower-body injuries, he said. One had a bone sticking out of his ankle.
“The one guy with a visible fracture, he was in pretty bad condition. The other guy wasn’t moving his legs.”
Xiomara Lopez said she often sees cars speeding on Seymour or Davie, well above the posted speed limit. Soor said some vehicles coming off the Granville Street Bridge onto Seymour Street often speed trying to beat the light. “We’re not surprised that this happened,” said Lopez.
Anyone who saw the crash or saw the SUV before the crash who has not yet spoken to police is asked to call the Collision Investigation Unit at 604-717-3012.
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