Police now say a man has died after being buried in an avalanche southwest of Merritt while snowmobiling, early this afternoon.

Southeast District RCMP spokesperson, Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, says an avalanche came down just after 12:30 p.m. near Cabin Lake and Prospect Creek – an area about midway between Boston Bar and Kingsvale.

“The victim was located by searchers, but sadly did not survive,” O’Donaghey says.

He says police won’t be sharing the identity of the man who was killed.

O’Donaghey also advises people to check Avalanche Canada for updates on snowpack conditions before heading into the back country.

Meanwhile, as of 6:15 p.m., a “police incident” has Highway 8, between Spences Bridge and Merritt down to a single lane of traffic according to DriveBC.

Highway 1 also remains closed about 12 kilometres north of Spences Bridge because of a rock slide, with no estimated time of reopening. The extent of the slide is unclear, but the incident did happen at about 3:45 a.m. today.