Coquihalla reopens after fatal crash south of Merritt
Posted May 16, 2019 7:21 pm.
Last Updated May 17, 2019 3:42 am.
MERRITT (NEWS 1130) — At least one person has died, and six are injured after a multi-vehicle crash on Coquihalla.
The highway was closed between Hope and Merritt for several hours, but reopened early Friday morning.
Two people were sent to the hospital by air ambulance with critical injuries, and another four were brought to the hospital in stable condition by ground ambulance, according to BC Emergency Health Services.
Fatal Coquihalla crash shuts down highway between Hope and Merritt | MORE: https://t.co/k1U26fasbk #BCHwy5 pic.twitter.com/zHqMXSweoY
— CityNews 1130 Vancouver (Inactive) (@news1130) May 17, 2019
Callers speaking to NEWS 1130 described seeing helicopters, ambulances and tow trucks arriving at the scene.
Photos posted to social media show at least two vehicles seriously damaged in a crash.
Drive BC doesn’t have an estimate yet on when the highway will re-open.
Jason Koo was stopped in traffic about 500 metres from the crash. He says the weather and visibility is poor.
“It was low fog cloud and heavy rain when that probably happened,” he says. “The rain was heavy, the cloud level was really low, so it was almost like driving in fog with heavy rain.”
