UPDATE: Horse killed after being struck by a train in Kamloops

A horse was fatally hit by a train in Kamloops Sunday morning and its rider was sent to hospital.

The Kamloops RCMP received a call Jan. 12 at 10:35 a.m. that a Canadian National Railways train had struck a horse and rider in the vicinity of Devick Road near Rayleigh. 

"The rider was taken to a local medical facility to be examined.  The horse was deceased at the scene,"  Sgt.  Sascha  Fesenko said in a press release.

"Rail and highway traffic was stopped for a short period of time while police investigated the incident and horse was removed."

According to Kamloops resident Nathan Ritchie, who is on the scene, traffic is backed up in the southbound direction on Highway 5. He said the rider was loaded into an ambulance and emergency crews are on scene. 

It's unclear if weather contributed to the incident but snow and wind warnings have been issued by Environment Canada for the Okanagan Valley and Thompson-Nicola regions.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.