Update: Highway Reopens After Fatal Crash

UPDATE 5 pm:

Highway 97A has reopened.

UPDATE: 12:40 pm

A crash north of Vernon this morning was deadly.

Police say an SUV and a semi truck collided on Highway 97A south of Pleasant Valley Cross Road in Spallumcheen around 11 am.

Constable Kelly Brett says one occupant of the SUV died.

“The surviving occupants are being transported by BC Ambulance Services to the nearest medical facility by both ground and air. The driver of the semi-truck sustained no injuries,” says Brett.

The SUV had  Alberta license plates.

An RCMP collision analyst is currently on scene to investigate the cause, with the weather likely playing a role.

Highway 97A remains closed with traffic is being diverted on Eagle Rock Road for northbound traffic and on Pleasant Valley Cross Road for southbound.

Drive BC estimates the highway could reopen by 5 pm.

Highway 97A in Spallumcheen is closed due to a crash.

RCMP say it involves a semi truck and a passenger vehicle just south of Pleasant Valley Cross Road with the semi said to be jack knifed across the highway.

Police say investigators are currently on the scene.
Traffic is being detoured around the site.

Drive BC says the estimated time of opening is 5 pm.

There has also been an accident on 48th Avenue at Pleasant Valley Road in Vernon in the last hour, involving two vehicles.