Scene of the head-on collision near Kamloops. (Image Credit: BC Highway Patrol)

By Victor Kaisar

Coquihalla Crash

Impaired driving suspected in wrong-way crash on Coquihalla near Kamloops

Sep 8, 2025 | 12:43 PM

KAMLOOPS — Police say the driver who caused a head-on crash on the Coquihalla Highway south of Kamloops around 9:00 p.m. Friday (Sept. 5) night was likely impaired at the time, but they’re still appealing for witnesses to come forward.

The crash involved a grey Dodge Ram pickup – which was heading south in the northbound lanes – and a white Hyundai Kona hatchback. Two of the four occupants in the Hyundai were killed, and police are still working to contact their families in other countries.

BC Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said Monday (Sept. 8) that the two women who were killed were 36 and 27-years-old. Online fundraisers identified the two women as Maduni Chathurda, a married mother of a seven-year-old from Sri Lanka, and Utsukta Adhikari, a recent graduate of Thompson Rivers University from Nepal.

“From the early hours we were looking at potential criminal behavior and now police are confirming that this is an impaired driving investigation,” McLaughlin told CFJC Today. “It’s a very serious crash which is why we’re still asking for people to come and speak to us.”

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McLaughlin also said three other people were seriously injured, including two others who were in the Hyundai and the driver of the Dodge pickup.

He added while police have made progress in their investigation, they’re still looking for more witnesses and dash camera video of the crash – which happened near the Inks Lake turnoff – as well as the two vehicles that were involved.

“It’s really important that anybody who saw anything leading up to this collision give police a call,” McLaughlin said. “It may not even be in the minutes before the collision, it may be the hours before the collision.”

“We are particularly interested in what the driver of the grey pickup may have been doing. We don’t have a specific location [for the truck] but that is something that witnesses might be able to help us figure out. It’s that picture of what exactly happened in the minutes and hours leading up to this terrible crash.”

Police say people who witnessed the crash or those with video of it, or with video or information of the two vehicles, should call the BC Highway Patrol in Kamloops at 250-828-3111 and reference file (2100) 2025-3075.