Coquihalla highway crash leaves one dead, more than 30 injured

One person has died and more than 30 people were injured in a multi-vehicle crash on BC’s Highway 5 Wednesday morning.

The town of Hope has opened its doors to the injured people, many of whom were taken by bus to a warming centre.

Terrible and tragic scene on #Coquihalla highway today. Crash killed at least one person and at least 30 people injured. The town of Hope has opens its doors to uninjured individuals. Highway 5 north of Hope remains closed. Photos submitted by Micah Mckerlich. pic.twitter.com/E537cb4rnA

— SimRan (@SimranRoohi) February 11, 2021

BC RCMP Traffic Services said police and rescue crews responded to the crash at around 9:40 am on the Coquihalla, about 5 km north of the Highway 3/Highway 5 split.

It appears severe weather that made for poor road conditions were a significant contributing factor to the crash. They confirmed one person had died.

BC Emergency Health Services told Daily Hive in a statement that two patients were transported to hospital by air ambulance in critical condition, and three more were taken by road ambulance in serious but stable condition.

More than 30 other patients were taken to the warming centre in hope by ground ambulance and transit buses, a BC EHS spokesperson said.

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Highway 5 north of Hope is currently closed.

Micah Mckerlich/Submitted

Micah Mckerlich/Submitted