Mounties confirm fatal crash on Coquihalla south of Merritt Wednesday
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MERRITT, B.C. — The southbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway, between Merritt and Hope, re-opened earlier Thursday morning (Feb. 18) following a deadly crash late yesterday afternoon that prompted the overnight closure south of the City of Merritt.
On February 17, 2021 at approximately 4:00 p.m., Merritt RCMP responded alongside emergency medical crews to a report of a collision involving two commercial vehicles on Highway 5, the Coquihalla Highway, approximately 4 km’s south of Merritt BC. Witnesses at the scene told police that both semi-tractor units were travelling in the southbound lanes of Highway 5, climbing a hill, when the collision unfolded.
It is believed that one of those commercial vehicles was travelling at relatively slow speeds in the right hand lane. The second commercial vehicle collided with the rear of the first commercial vehicle as its driver attempted to overtake it on the left.
“The damage caused to the passenger compartment of the cab associated to the overtaking commercial vehicle was described by investigators as catastrophic,” states Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, spokesman for the BC RCMP in the Southeast District. “Tragically a co-driver, believed to be in the tractors sleeper, was ejected from the cabin and was pronounced deceased at the scene.”
