‘She was amazing’: Friends mourn Dawson City, Yukon, woman killed in weekend vehicle accident | CBC News

People in Dawson City, Yukon, say they’re heartbroken by the death of local resident Samanroop Bisla, who was killed in a car accident on the weekend.

Early Sunday morning, RCMP responded to a single-vehicle accident on Dome Road, at the Moose Mountain ski hill. According to police, two people were in the vehicle at the time of the accident.

The pair were leaving a party at the ski hill when the vehicle struck a large steel gate. The gate pierced the passenger’s side of the car killing Bisla, 33.

Police say the driver of the vehicle — identified in court documents as Eric Rauguth — has been charged with impaired driving causing death, and refusing to provide breath samples.

Rauguth has been released on bail on two conditions. He must reside at his home in Dawson City and must report to a bail supervisor. He is scheduled to appear in court in December.

‘Roop always smiled’

Jon Wilkie was Bisla’s best friend, roommate, and co-worker.

“She was amazing, man,” Wilkie told CBC News. “Roop always smiled. She had that thousand-watt smile. I’m really happy she was a part of my life.”

Wilkie said he first met Bisla at Bombay Peggy’s, a local pub in Dawson City. He said he was looking for a seat when Bisla offered the one beside her. After she bought him a drink he knew they were going to be friends.

“Usually it’s the guy who says to the hot girl, ‘sit down, have a seat, can I buy you a drink,'” he said. “She said, ‘Hi, I’m Roop.’ I asked, ‘where are you from?’ and she goes, ‘India, but I’m really adaptable. Right now I’m from here.'”

Wilkie said he and Bisla were inseparable up until the day she died.

“My house became her house,” he said. “My quad became her quad. My friends became her friends. My cat became her cat.”

Wilkie said Bisla worked hard and thrived at everything she tried, from bartending all the way up to running heavy equipment for a local mining exploration company.

Wilkie said the day Bisla died was the last day of her work season.

Wilkie said he heard the news of Bisla’s death while he was en route to Budapest, Hungary.

“The night that she died she messaged me at 8:39 p.m,” he said. “They’d finished work for the season and she asked me if I had an extra eye patch because ‘I’m going out as you. Do you have any eye patches and Caterpillar shirts?'” 

Wilkie says he can’t live in his house anymore.

“The house was really small, and cozy. It was a tiny little house with just her and I in it for the past three years. There’s just too much Roop there.”

Kimiko Hirakida got to know Bisla in Dawson City and told CBC News she was “so beautiful on the outside, that it seemed impossible for her to be that beautiful inside. But she was.”

Hirakida said that everyone who knew Bisla, even briefly, will never forget her or her warm hugs.

James William, another local resident, told CBC News that he didn’t know Bisla personally but it was hard not to be stopped by her smile.

“Living in Dawson, you cross paths with everyone on numerous occasions,” William said. “Those times we did cross paths she always had a smile on her face.

“She had a beautiful, radiant smile that automatically lite up any room she walked into, even the dark, dingy Pit.”

Friends of Bisla have organized a fire at the Farmers’ Market on Thursday at 5 p.m. to honour Bisla and what she meant to the community.