UPDATE –

Merritt RCMP say the man who died in a crash on the Coquihalla Highway yesterday had stopped to offer assistance after an earlier crash.

The victim was a 48 year old Salmon Arm man, according to Cpl. Chris Manseau.

A small vehicle collided with a northbound semi near the Coldwater Interchange on the Coquihalla, but there were no injuries.

However, Manseau says two other vehicles approached the scene and caused a chain reaction.

“The driver and the passenger of the initial collision were standing road side, and they ended up getting seriously injured and were later flown by BC Air Ambulance to a local hospital,” he said.

Manseau adds several other people were treated at the scene.

At this point police don’t know if speed or driver impairment played a role, and the investigation is ongoing. It is being led by the Southeast District Traffic Services with support from the Merritt RCMP.

Manseau also said at least four vehicles were involved.

ORIGINAL – 

A man in his 40’s was killed on the Coquihalla yesterday, between Hope and Merritt.

Coroners Spokesperson Andy Watson says they are in the early stages of their investigation.

“There was a multi-vehicle motor vehicle incident yesterday late in the day on the Coquihalla near the turnoff for Coldstream,” Watson said. “Due to the privacy of the deceased we won’t be releasing or confirming ID.”

BC EHS says six patients were taken to hospital, two by air ambulance in a critical condition, and four by ground ambulance in a stable condition.

“We’ll work with different agencies to gather information that they have collected at the scene as well, but our role is to determine how, when, where, and by what means someone came to their death, and so any of those considerations that would come into that, we’ll certainly include in our report,” Watson added.

“But that will take some time.”

The Coquihalla reopened at 1 a.m. today, after being closed for several hours.

(Photo via Joshua Knaak on twitter)