UPDATE: Fatal crash on the Okanagan Connector

MERRITT – A 75-year-old man was killed when the pick-up he was driving rear-ended a commercial vehicle Friday afternoon on Highway 97C.

Both vehicles were driving down the Loon Lake Hill west of the Elkhart brake check in the westbound lanes on the Okanagan Connector when the crash happened at around 4 p.m.

The driver of the pick-up was air lifted to Kelowna General Hospital where he died from his injuries. He was the only one in the truck.

The driver of the commercial vehicle wasn’t hurt.

RCMP aren’t releasing the victim’s name until they contact his family. They will only say he is from the B.C. interior.

The highway was closed for hours. There was no detour available so traffic was eventually turned around and sent back to Kelowna. The route has since reopened.

“Roads were bare and dry at the time of the collision,” Const. Vickie Taylor says in a media release. “Visibility was clear and unobstructed.”

No word yet what caused the rear-end crash. A collision analyst is investigating.

RCMP are asking witnesses to call the Merritt RCMP detachment at 250-378-4262 and ask for Const. Tammy Denning with the Central Interior Traffic Services Unit.

More to come.

To contact the reporter for this story, email Charlotte Helston at chelston@infonews.ca or call 250-309-5230. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.

— This story was updated at 5:52 p.m., July 25, 2014 to include new highway opening information.

— This story was updated at 9:16 a.m., July 25, 2014 to include new information from RCMP.