2 dead in pedestrian crashes around Coquihalla Highway Friday evening

MERRITT — Police in Merritt have responded to two fatal pedestrian collisions around the Coquihalla Highway in one night this long weekend.

At 8:18 p.m. Friday, October 10, RCMP officers were dispatched to reports of a pedestrian struck by an oncoming vehicle on Highway 5 between Exit 286 and 290.

The vehicle was on the way to the Lower Mainland for the weekend, and the driver stayed to cooperate with the police investigation. The man died on scene.

Minutes later, at 8:25 p.m., a Merritt officer spotted another pedestrian crash at 2702 Nicola Avenue en route to the collision on Highway 5.

The victim was also found dead on the roadway, and the driver stayed to cooperate with police.

As a result of both incidents, Coquihalla Highway southbound lanes and Nicola Avenue between Houston Street and Menzies Street were temporarily closed.

“Two very tragic occurrences occurred within minutes of one another,” said Cst. Blake Chursinoff of the Merritt RCMP.

“At this time we are thinking of the families of the two deceased pedestrians, and also each of the drivers and families who found themselves involved in such a tragic incident on Friday night.”

Merritt RCMP confirms that neither collision had any criminal involvement, and both incidents were separate from one another.