CREDIT: Ian Smith, Vancouver Sun

WOMAN KILLED AS VAN FLIPS: RCMP officers look over the crash scene Sunday morning on the Trans Canada Highway near 232nd Street in Langley.

A van carrying 19 farmworkers that rammed into a ditch on the Trans Canada Highway early Sunday -- killing one woman and seriously injuring two others -- appears to have been licensed to carry only 15, police say.

RCMP spokeswoman Corporal Shauna MacDonald said the van's owner told police that while the van, which is legally registered as a bus, has seats for 19 people, it is only legally permitted to carry 15, including the driver.

But MacDonald added that police have not yet been able to confirm that with the province's motor vehicle branch.

Messages left for the owner of the van, farm contractor J.K. Workforce Ltd. of Richmond, were not returned Sunday.

MacDonald said police were called to the scene of the crash, in the eastbound lanes of the Trans Canada near 232nd Street in Langley, at 6:51 a.m. Sunday.

According to witnesses interviewed by police, the brown 1990 Dodge van's right rear wheel blew out, causing the driver to lose control, drive into the highway's right-hand ditch and flip over.

The van came to rest on its side, severely dented with most of its windows blown out.

A large chunk of tire was visible on the highway about 100 metres before the point where the van went off the road.

A woman in the vehicle, identified by police only as being from Surrey, died at the scene and two other passengers were sent to Royal Columbian Hospital in critical but stable condition.

"All others were taken to a variety of hospitals with a variety of injuries," MacDonald said.

At one point, she said, there were eight ambulances at the scene.

The eastbound lane of the highway was completed closed for more than two and a half hours while paramedics treated those involved in the accident -- causing severe backups that continued for much of the day.

One lane was opened for traffic at 9:35 a.m., but it wasn't until early afternoon that police were able to remove the van and the highway was completely reopened to traffic.

Police said the driver and front-seat passenger of the van were wearing seatbelts, but they have not yet determined if any of the van's other passengers were wearing them.

Under the Motor Vehicle Act, bus passengers are not required to wear seatbelts.

MacDonald said police also don't believe the van was speeding, as two witnesses told police they were overtaking the van at the time of the accident.

ICBC spokesman Doug McLelland said he couldn't provide any specific information on the van involved in Sunday's accident, but said vehicles classified as buses are held to a higher standard by the province than private vehicles.

"If you're classified as a bus, you have to go through an inspection facility once every six months," McLelland said.

Police said they do not know what farm the workers were heading to, though they believe it was in Abbotsford.

MacDonald said police have had concerns for some time about large numbers of farmworkers being transported to work in old vans.

"It's always been a concern at picking periods" she said. "But I feel that compliance is getting better."

J.K. Workforce Ltd. is listed as a licensed farm labour contractor on the B.C. government's Web site. The site says the company has 23 bonded workers who are trained in picking berries.

cskelton@png.canwest.com