2 people killed Saturday in crashes in southern Interior

MERRITT — RCMP in British Columbia’s southern Interior are releasing more details about a fatal crash Saturday between a transport truck and a SUV on the Coquihalla Highway south of Merritt.

The crash occurred when the transport truck slammed into the back of the smaller vehicle, which police say was carrying four people when it stopped in the right lane of the highway.

Merritt RCMP say in a news release that a 29-year-old woman died at the scene, a 28-year-old man was airlifted to hospital with critical injuries, and two other men were treated for injuries that were serious but not life threatening.

It was the second deadly collision on southern Interior highways on Saturday after a jack-knifed transport truck skidded into the path of an oncoming pickup.

That crash on Highway 3 killed the Alberta man at the wheel of the transport truck as well as 51-year-old Cranbrook fire Chief Clayton Murrell, who was driving the pickup.

Cranbrook’s mayor and councillors remembered Murrell with a moment of silence before Monday night’s council meeting, and Mayor Lee Pratt also called for prayers for Murrell’s wife, Joan MacKinnon, who has life-threatening injuries.

“This has dealt a huge blow to our community,” Pratt told councillors.

Flags at Cranbrook’s city hall and fire hall remain at half-mast, and there is no word yet on funeral services for Murrell.