A 19-year-old female was medevaced to Vancouver with serious injuries after she was involved in a two-vehicle collision on Highway 16.
RCMP received a call to the scene near the Butze Rapids Trail at 2:17 p.m. on Sunday.
“Alcohol is believed to be a contributing factor,” said Sgt. Dave Uppal of the Prince Rupert RCMP.
Both vehicles were travelling in the same direction and both were travelling eastbound from Prince Rupert. One vehicle was passing the other one and both vehicles ended up on the right hand side in the ditch, Uppal said.
"When you look at the vehicles you would be quite surprised that no one was killed," he said to the District of Port Edward on Tuesday night.
There were four people in one vehicle and three people in the other. Only the young woman sustained injuries.
For approximately five and a half hours a line of cars were parked along the highway — a rare sight to be seen in the North Coast region. Part of the delay was because the RCMP had to wait for traffic analysts to drive in from Terrace.
The road was re-opened for one-lane traffic at 8 p.m.
The investigation into the accident is ongoing.