A man in his 20’s from the Lower Mainland was killed on the Coquihalla at Larson Hill south of Merritt this morning.

Merritt RCMP Const. Tracy Dunsmore says it happened after an initial incident in the northbound lanes of the Coquihalla.

“I don’t know if it was an accident or if it was broken down, and then there were other vehicles that were off in the ditch, and then the vehicle in question ran into the back of a stopped truck and trailer,” she said.

“And there were four occupants in that vehicle, and three occupants were taken to hospital and the driver was declared deceased at the scene.”

RCMP Traffic Services Cpl. Mike Halskov says all lanes of the highway was “at a standstill” due to the conditions.

“Commercial truck drivers decided to pull over as best they could instead of trying to navigate the highway at Larson Hill because of the conditions,” he said.

Dunsmore says the investigation is ongoing, but weather could have been a factor.

“The weather was not great this morning on the highways,” she added. “It was raining in the lower elevations and the turning to ice at the higher elevations and I think there was some snow out there as well.””

Both the RCMP’s Central Interior Traffic Services and the BC Coroners Service are investigating.

The northbound lanes on the Coquihalla were shut down for about four hours because of the crash.