Accident victim dies in Vancouver

A 50-year-old Whitehorse woman died after sustaining serious head trauma in a head-on collision on the Alaska Highway in Whitehorse Sunday.

A 50-year-old Whitehorse woman died after sustaining serious head trauma in a head-on collision on the Alaska Highway in Whitehorse Sunday.

The victim, Diane Roby, was extricated from her vehicle at the scene of the collision near the Whitehorse weigh scales early Sunday morning and taken to Whitehorse General Hospital.

She was subsequently flown to Vancouver, where she died of her injuries.

Emergency Medical Services and the Whitehorse Fire Department responded to the scene at approximately 2:45 a.m.

Roby’s male passenger, as well as the lone male driver of the other vehicle, were also taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Their names were not released.

Whitehorse RCMP did not notify the local media of the fatality until Tuesday afternoon, when they issued a news release. They had been unavailable earlier to respond to media inquiries about the accident.

An RCMP spokesman said police are still investigating the cause of the crash, although it is not believed that drugs or alcohol were factors.

Sgt. Tom Wyers said police have yet to determine if charges will be laid.

He added it’s believed everyone involved were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the crash.

Roby was a hairdresser who worked at Barbers II on weekends.

“It’s definitely sad,“ Pierre Halotier, the owner of the business, said Tuesday afternoon.

“She was a model worker. She knew a lot of people in town.“

Halotier said he had known Roby for about 12 years and that hearing of her sudden death was quite a shock.