Okanagan man and his dog die in multi-vehicle crash on Coquihalla
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Highway 5 north of Hope reopened to traffic Wednesday evening after a multi-vehicle crash that claimed one life and injured more than 30 others, some seriously.
RCMP say the incident began the morning of Feb. 10 with a report of a semi-truck stopped in the northbound lanes of Highway 5 in the S-curves. An officer from the Fraser Valley responded and came upon the scene to find a pickup truck had collided into the rear of a stopped semi-truck.
“The road conditions in the area of the collision were treacherous and caught many unaware which resulted in a cascading, chain-reaction collision involving at least two dozen vehicles, including passenger vehicles, semi-trucks and a bus,” stated Cpl. Mike Halskov, media relations with BC RCMP Traffic Services.
Police say the responding officer was forced to take evasive action and, due to the severe road conditions, he collided with the concrete barrier. The police car was then hit from behind by a jack-knifed semi-truck that was not able to stop, injuring the police officer who watched through his rear-view mirror as he was about to be hit.
