News release

Two fatal pedestrian motor vehicle collisions in the Nicola Valley

October 12, 2025 - Merritt, BC, British Columbia
From: Merritt RCMP

Content

At 8:18pm on Friday October 10, 2025 Merritt RCMP officers were dispatched to a report that a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle on Highway 5 between Exit 286 and 290. When officers attended, they located a deceased male who had been hit by an oncoming vehicle. The vehicle occupied a family enroute to the Lower Mainland for the weekend. The driver of the vehicle remained on scene and has been fully cooperative with the police investigation. Highway 5 southbound lanes were closed while the Merritt RCMP conducted a collision investigation.

At 8:25pm on Friday October 10, 2025 while a Merritt RCMP officer was enroute to the collision on Highway 5,  they came across another pedestrian motor vehicle collision that occurred at 2702 Nicola Avenue. Unfortunately the struck pedestrian was also located on the roadway, deceased. The vehicle was occupied by a single driver. They remained on scene and have been fully cooperative with the police investigation. Nicola Avenue between Houston Street and Menzies street was closed while the Merritt RCMP conducted a collision investigation.

The Merritt RCMP can confirm that neither collision had any criminal element involved, and both collisions are independent occurrences of each other.

"Two very tragic occurrences occurred within minutes of one another. The evidence states that both of these collisions occurred independently and are not connected in any way. 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" says Cst. Blake Chursinoff of the Merritt RCMP.

Contacts