Two Whitehorse residents have died in the Watson Lake area after their vehicle left the Alaska Highway and plunged down an embankment.

They have been identified as Sarah Catherine McKinnon, 21, and 27-year-old Myron Meryl Etzel, the Yukon Coroner’s Service said Tuesday afternoon.

At approximately 10:30 p.m. last Saturday, Watson Lake RCMP went to the scene at Kilometre 1007 of the Alaska Highway, west of Junction 37.

A passing trucker had reported seeing vehicle tracks in the snow leading off the road to the right. Police found a small car that had gone down a steep embankment.

“Initial investigation indicates that the driver failed to negotiate the curve of the highway and went off the road to the right,” police said Monday afternoon.

“It was not clear when the collision took place.”

Both occupants had been ejected from the vehicle and were pronounced dead, police said.

Watson Lake RCMP and the Yukon Coroner’s Service are continuing the investigation.