Smoke from a semi fire on the Coquihalla between Hope and Merritt on Aug. 29, 2022. (Photo via Joe Elliott)
UPDATE Aug 30 – One person is dead after a fiery crash on the Hope to Merritt section of the Coquihalla yesterday morning.
BC Highway Patrol spokesperson Cpl. Mike Halskov says police were called around 6:05 a.m. to the Comstock Road area, south of Merritt.
“Upon arrival it was determined that a slow-moving commercial transport truck was rear-ended by a second commercial transport truck which subsequently caught fire in addition to the grass median between the northbound and southbound lanes,” he said.
Halskov says the driver of the slower moving transport truck, a man from Edmonton, was not injured.
The driver of the second transport truck, a man from Winnipeg, was trapped and died as a result of the collision while his co-driver, also a man from Winnipeg, extricated himself from the cab but not before sustaining serious, life-threatening injuries.
While neither truck was carrying any dangerous goods, the crash forced the shutdown of the Coquihalla in both directions for about two hours due to the intensity of the fire which “completely consumed” the second transport truck.
Photo via Melissa Missy Huether
Halskov also says it was hard for investigators to access to the scene as the fire kept re-igniting. Firefighters from both Merritt and the BC Wildfire Service were called in to ensure it did not spread to the surrounding area.
As of publishing, there is one southbound lane that is still closed while the vehicle recovery takes place, with a speed reduction in place. It is not clear when the highway will fully reopen, but crews spent a large portion of yesterday removing debris from the highway.
“BC Highway Patrol has assumed conduct of the investigation with assistance from Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement officers, the Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service and the BC Coroners’ Service,” Halskov added.
“The cause of the crash remains under investigation and nothing has been ruled out.”
If you have information or video of the collision, you’re asked to call BC Highway Patrol in Merritt at 250-378-4262 and cite file 2022-4023.
“Investigators would like to speak with the person who stopped at the scene, identified themselves as a witness, but did not provide their name or contact information,” Halskov said, noting no further information is available and further updates are not anticipated.
