A man in his mid-40s died on the Trans-Canada Highway west of Regina Tuesday night, after getting out of his vehicle to help someone else, the RCMP said.

It happened on the Trans-Canada, also known as Highway 1, about 30 kilometres west of the city around 5 p.m. CST, the RCMP said.

A semi-trailer collided with a minivan parked by the side of the road and then hit the man, whom police said had gotten out of his vehicle to help another driver whose vehicle was in the ditch.

Witnesses said the man was left pinned under the jackknifed semi amid heavy snow. Bystanders rushed to help and used shovels and other tools to try to dig him out, but he died.

Six or more other collisions happened in the same spot right after the initial one, but there were no serious injuries and no one was taken to hospital.

Several hundred vehicles were stranded and lined up on the highway. The jam did not begin to clear until around midnight.

It was one of three fatal highway incidents Tuesday, amid blustery conditions around southern Saskatchewan.

Another death happened just east of Regina at the Pilot Butte turnoff. A man, 45, who was a passenger in a westbound minivan with seven people aboard, died after the vehicle was rear-ended by a semi.

Seven people were taken to hospital with undisclosed injuries.

A 33-year-old man from Medicine Hat also died near Estevan when he lost control of a pickup truck and hit a semi head-on. That accident happened around 3:45 p.m.

Police haven't released the names of the people who died.

RCMP said roads were icy and there was poor visibility at the time of the crash.

Conditions were still slippery on the highways Wednesday morning, with numerous vehicles still in the ditch between Belle Plaine Regina at around 7:30 a.m.