A police cruiser that collided with a car in the Fraser Valley Tuesday night — sending two young men to hospital with life-threatening injuries — did not have its siren or emergency lights on at the time of the crash, a witness says.

The men were airlifted to hospital following the collision on the Lougheed Highway, about three kilometres west of Hot Springs Road in Agassiz.

One witness who was in a vehicle behind the Mustang that hit the cruiser claims the emergency lights on the police car were not lit up.

"I seen the car coming. I'm like, 'Oh my God, it's a drunk driver,'" said David Hill, who was in a vehicle in the group of cars headed to Harrison Hot Springs. "The cars hit, caught air, went sideways and I seen it was a marked police car."

The Abbotsford Police Department's major crimes unit has taken over the investigation of the incident, which occurred on the Lougheed Highway about three kilometres west of Hot Springs Road in Agassiz around 11 p.m. PT.

Convoy of young people

Const. Ian MacDonald said the driver of the Mustang, identified as Steve Genberg, 20, is suffering from critical injuries and the 19-year-old passenger is suffering from serious injuries.

The car was the lead vehicle in a convoy of four or five vehicles filled with young people heading to a social gathering in nearby Harrison Hot Springs, police have confirmed.

MacDonald said the RCMP officer was responding to a call at the time.

Hill said he wants to know why the officer drove the way he did.

"What caused him to veer into our lane so hard? I want an explanation for that 'cause it's mind blowing," said Hill.

MacDonald said investigators will have a lot of information to work with.

"We will talk to witnesses, and do a tech data dump on the cellphone and GPS in the police car," MacDonald said. "We will have a data box that shows speed and when the brakes deployed, and look at the laptop to record key strokes."