By The Canadian Press

Baby boy dies after going into cardiac arrest on the Coquihalla Highway

Mar 21, 2017 | 6:30 PM

MERRITT, B.C. — Police say a two-week-old baby has died after going into cardiac arrest while his parents drove along a major highway near Merritt, B.C.

Sgt. Norm Flemming with Merritt RCMP says the family was travelling from Vernon to Vancouver along the Coquihalla Highway on Monday when the little boy’s father realized he wasn’t breathing.

Flemming says the parents pulled over north of Merritt, started CPR and called 911.

Police closed the highway to allow an air ambulance to land, but the infant died while he was being airlifted to hospital.

Flemming says the family was going to the B.C. Children’s Hospital for an unrelated medical appointment and the boy’s death was “totally unexpected.”

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The baby’s cause of death is unclear, but an autopsy is scheduled to be completed on Wednesday.