One person is dead and six others are in hospital after a horrific crash on the Coquihalla yesterday

It happened just before 7:00 pm near Coldwater Rd closing the highway between Hope and Merritt until around 1:00 AM

BC Chamber of Commerce President Joshua Knaak arrived on the scene 10 to 20 minutes after the crash and said it was pretty horrific.

“There were three vehicles. One of them was right up against the median and it had minimal damage. Then there was a blue sports car that was a little further back that had pretty extensive damage on the one side. They were doing CPR on somebody that was right beside that vehicle. Then probably about 30 yards back on the right hand side there was a little Nissan with the entire back and the entire front of it was smashed in.

Knaak says it was not a pretty scene where first responders were doing CPR on a person who he says did not make it.

“The professionalism of the first responders there, I don’t quite know how Merritt works or how Hope works, but I know people came in from all over. You had volunteers there who certainly don’t deal with that kind of stuff every day. The professionalism that they had and the way they were at the scene and also dealt with those of us around that. It was a tough thing to see.”

Knaak says he doesn’t know what caused the crash but it was raining pretty hard and the roads were pretty slick.

BC Emergency Health Services says two people in critical condition were airlifted from the scene and four others in stable condition taken to hospital by ground ambulance.

Knaak posted a number of pictures and videos from the scene on his Twitter account.

They are below.