Shock, sadness after head-on semi crash kills 3 on B.C. highway

Family and colleagues in the trucking industry are mourning three young men who died when two semis collided on a B.C. highway.

First responders were called to the scene of the fatal crash along Highway 1, approximately 35 kilometres east of Golden just before 7 a.m. Sunday

"Although the investigation is still ongoing, it appears as though one of the trucks drove into oncoming traffic and caused a head-on collision,” said Golden-Field RCMP via news release.

Mounties said that the occupants of both vehicles were killed but did not initially say specify how many fatalities there were.

"Although we suspected there were three victims in the collision, we were unable to confirm this yesterday due to the nature and severity of the crash," a spokesperson told CTV News in an email Monday.

The deceased have been identified as 25-year-old Tanner Liefting, 30-year-old Brandon Richard Johnson and 34-year-old Jagsir Singh Gill.

“He always lit up the entire room,” said Brennan Barson, long-time friend of Johnson. “Always had that infectious laugh, no matter how bad your mood was he always put a smile on your face.”

Barson said Johnson was in the same vehicle as Liefting. Both were from Chlliwack, while Gill lived in Calgary.

“It’s just a really hard time,” said Barson, adding that Johnson followed in his father’s footsteps to achieve his dream of working in the trucking industry. 

On Facebook, the Skilled Truckers Canada said Liefting and Johnson truly loved their work.

"Words cannot express the loss the Canadian trucking community has suffered. These two young men ate, slept, and breathed trucking," the post said.

"The highway's a lonelier place without them."

On a GoFundMe page created for Liefting’s family, he’s being described as a loving husband and father who had a passion for trucking.

Johnson’s page describes him as a ‘wonderful friend, brother, son.’

Gill’s cousins, Amandeep Gill and Dhavneet Gill, told CTV News that he was planning to quit his job trucking this fall and open his own business so he could be home more with his family.

“He loved his family, loved his kids,” said Amandeep Gill, Jagsir’s cousin. “He was stuck like glue to his kids. He just wanted to spend more time with them. That’s why he wanted to leave trucking, he never got the chance to do that.”

A GoFundMe has also been setup for Gill.

The stretch of Highway near the Yoho National Park west gate reopened Monday evening, after being closed in both directions for nearly 36 hours.

Although it’s unconfirmed, it appears Johnson and Liefting were in the same truck carrying a lot of 4H dairy cattle returning from a competition in Manitoba. All but one bovine died in the crash. 

“We extend our deepest condolences to the families of the drivers who tragically lost their lives, and to the 4-H youth who lost their animals,” said Holger Schwichtenberg, chair of the BC Dairy Association.

Aleda Welch, manager of 4H British Columbia, says the animals were from the Okanagan area, Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley.

“It’s extremely devastating to the 4H community. The kids have suffered a loss. They have been working with these calves (the) last four or five months. (It's) quite shocking for them to hear that they weren’t going to be arriving back home," Welch said.

The cows were destined for the Interior Provincial Exhibition in Armstrong.

“The Interior Provincial Exhibition would like to extend heartfelt sympathies to the 4H youth who lost their animals and to the families of the drivers who tragically lost their lives,” said Heather King, general manager of the IPE.

“The kids raised these animals from newborn calves to yearlings. Eighteen of the animals in the crash were to be part of the show at the IPE this year.”

The mayor also shared her thoughts following the crash.

“Our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the truck drivers that lost their lives yesterday,” said Spallumcheen Mayor Christine Fraser. “Our thoughts and condolences are also with the entire Team BC Dairy 4H members who lost their calves, equipment, and luggage in this awful situation and all the dairy farmers that lost animals.”

Anyone with information on Sunday's collision, including dash-cam video, is asked to call Golden-Field RCMP at 250-344-2221.

With files from CTV News Calgary