Good Samaritans Praised

Merritt RCMP are crediting quick thinking passersby with averting a potential disaster along the Okanagan Connector Saturday afternoon.

A single vehicle with three 19 year old occupants crashed into a rock face---the vehicle quickly caught fire.

Passing motorists, with the help of a paving company water truck brought the blaze under control before it could cause a forest fire, then removed all three occupants from the vehicle.

A female in the back seat of the car died as a result of injuries sustained in the crash.

The male driver is in critical condition in Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops while a male passenger has serious, non-life threatening injuries.

All three are from the Okanagan.

No names have yet been released.