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Young local man dead after accident

A 24-year-old Campbell River man is dead after he was hit by a van at work Monday evening

A 24-year-old Campbell River man is dead after he was hit by a van at work Monday evening.

According to a news release from Sayward RCMP, the young man was hit by a crew van while it was backing out of a parking area near the Mount Cain turnoff on Highway 19 at about 5:15 p.m.

“He was killed instantly,” said Sayward RCMP Cpl. Rod Pick.

“He was either going to close the gate behind the vans that were exiting the parking lot, or he was going to a third van that was parked on the logging road and jumping in that van. There’s two stories there – why he was out of the van and everybody else had jumped into the van.”

The driver of the crew van was a 22-year-old Port McNeill man.

Several other employees were in the area and witnessed the accident.

RCMP victim services are offering support to some of the witnesses.

“I’ve been in the RCMP for almost 19 years and it was one of the most horrific gruesome scenes I’ve been to,” said Pick.

“It was really a harsh one on the guys there.”

The victim, driver and witnesses were travelling from their worksites with Holbrook Dyson at the time of the accident, according to Pick.

Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in the accident, according to Pick.

“Investigations by the B.C. Coroner Service, WorkSafe B.C. and the RCMP are ongoing,” said Pick.