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Salmon Arm man dies in ‘chain reaction of collisions’ on Coquihalla: RCMP

The two accidents near the Coldwater Interchange closed Highway 5 for hours
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BC EHS air ambulance crews responded to a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 5 Thursday, May 16, 2019. (@megantcampbell/Twitter)

The man who died in Thursday’s Coquihalla Highway crash has been identified by police as a 47-year-old from Salmon Arm after he stopped to offer help following the first of two crashes.

Merritt RCMP said Friday morning that several others were injured after multi-vehicle collisions Thursday evening in the northbound lane near the Coldwater Interchange, south of Exit 290.

Police said that the first incident happened after a small car crashed into a northbound commercial vehicle sometime before 5:30 p.m. While the drivers and a passenger involved exchanged information on the roadside, police said that two additional vehicles approached the scene, causing a chain reaction of further collisions.

READ MORE: One person dead, others injured after multi-vehicle crash on Coquihalla Highway

Two of the people standing on the roadside were seriously injured and taken by air ambulance to hospital. The 47-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police said that several other passengers were treated at the scene for their injuries.

The collisions closed the highway in both directions for several hours, before it reopened at roughly 1 a.m.


@ashwadhwani
ashley.wadhwani@bpdigital.ca

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About the Author: Ashley Wadhwani-Smith

I began my journalistic journey at Black Press Media as a community reporter in my hometown of Maple Ridge, B.C.
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