Organizers are hoping to raise $28,000 to send Adhikari’s body back to her native Nepal. Money will also be used to support Bikash Bhandary, who was injured.
“Bikash Bhandary is a dynamic community member, a master’s degree holder in Sanskrit and working as a Pandit [a priest] in our local temple here in Kamloops,” the fundraiser added. “We pray for his speedy recovery from the injuries and trauma.”
Another fundraiser has identified the other victim as Maduni Chathurda, who was from Sri Lanka. It’s seeking to raise $60,000 to support her husband and the couple’s seven-year-old son.
“I am shocked by this unexpected tragic incident,” Madhuni’s husband and fundraiser organizer Jayanga Wijesuriya said. “I am in a helpless state and I badly need some money to face the oncoming circumstances.”
The BC Highway Patrol has said a grey Dodge Ram pickup and a white Hyundai Kona hatchback collided head-on near the Inks Lake turnoff around 9 p.m. Friday night. They did not say which vehicle was at fault.
According to one of the fundraisers, the two victims were in the Hyundai hatchback and the Dodge pickup was being driven in the wrong direction.
“Police are investigating the possibility that criminal behaviour caused this tragic collision,” BC Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Michael McLaughlin said, noting there were three people who were “seriously wounded.”
That fundraiser also said another person from Sri Lanka was injured though it did not identify who they were. It’s possible that the third person injured was the driver of the Dodge pickup, but that has not been confirmed.
The crash forced the closure of the Coquihalla for around nine hours Friday night, and police are asking people with dash-camera footage or other information to call the BC Highway Patrol in Kamloops at 250-828-3111 and reference file (2100) 2025-3075.
“We need every available witness who can tell us what the drivers were doing in the minutes and hours leading up to this collision,” McLaughlin added.