UPDATE 9:30 p.m. – One person was killed and four others were injured in a serious rollover crash on the Coquihalla on Saturday morning that had the highway closed for hours.

Police say just after 8:30 a.m. this morning, police and emergency medical crews responded to the southbound lanes of the Coquihalla Highway 5, south of the Portia Brake Check.

“First responders arrived on scene to find a heavily damaged grey Mazda CX-9 on its side,” RCMP Southeast District spokesperson Cpl. Jesse O’Donaghey, said. “Two adults and two children sustained varying degrees of injuries, all serious and many considered to be potentially life threatening in nature.”

“Sadly, a fifth occupant of the vehicle, a woman in her 70s, was pronounced deceased at the scene.”

O’Donaghey says both adults were airlifted to different hospitals in the Lower Mainland hospitals in serious condition. At the last update, both the man and woman were in emergency surgery, though an update on their condition is not known.

One of the two children was taken by air ambulance to BC Children’s Hospital in a critical condition, while the other was taken to an area hospital with serious injuries, believed to be non-life threatening in nature.

“The BC Coroners Service has been notified and attended the collision scene to launch its own concurrent fact finding investigation into the elderly woman’s unexpected death,” O’Donaghey added. “In order to protect the privacy and identity of the deceased and all those injured in this tragic crash, no further information will be released by police.”

BC Highway Patrol in Chilliwack is also investigating the crash, and people who have not yet spoken to police are being asked to contact the BC Highway Patrol Chilliwack at 604-702-4039.

The highway was closed southbound for at least five hours, according to DriveBC, with it reopening to traffic around 3:30 p.m. Northbound traffic was flowing, though people are being told to expect delays, in both directions.