Single-vehicle crash claims life of Yarmouth resident

A single vehicle crash near Gypsum Mines, N.S. on Sunday has claimed the life of 18-year-old Justin Bruce Goreham of Sandford, Yarmouth County.

Goreham was one of three Yarmouth County teens in the vehicle. The other two occupants, a 17-year-old and an 18-year-old, were injured with serious, but not life threatening, injuries. Their names have not been released by the RCMP.

The RCMP’s Annapolis Valley Traffic Services and Windsor Rural RCMP were called to Highway 14 in Gypsum Mines to investigate a single-vehicle crash around 12:40 p.m. on Sunday, July 14.

According to the RCMP, witnesses say a two-door Cobalt was heading north on Highway 14 when it passed another northbound vehicle on a double solid line on a sharp curve. The RCMP says the vehicle lost control and struck the gravel on the right shoulder. The vehicle then appeared to overcompensate, going to the left shoulder where it jumped a ditch, flipping on its back.

The male driver and a male passenger were ejected from the vehicle and pinned under the car. A third male passenger crawled out of the vehicle.

The RCMP says seatbelts were not being used by the vehicle’s occupants.

Goreham was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are investigating the factors that they feel contributed to the crash. They've focused their attention on alcohol, careless driving and lack of seatbelt usage.

Emergency Health Services and the Windsor Fire Department were on the scene and the road was closed by the Department of Transportation and Public Works for approximately four hours while an RCMP traffic analyst and the RCMP Traffic Services carried out its investigation.