Three dead in fiery pileup in Ontario
COOKSTOWN, Ont. — Three people were killed in a multi-vehicle pileup that sent a wave of fuel and flames rushing down a highway north of Toronto, prompting motorists to run for their lives, police said Wednesday.
Provincial police confirmed the number of fatalities Wednesday evening after first responders combed through the wreckage of 14 burned-out vehicles.
“The damage to those involved vehicles is absolutely catastrophic,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt told reporters near the scene.
“There are cars everywhere, twisted transport trucks, destroyed vehicles, metal that is unrecognizable as to whether or not it is a vehicle at all or not.”
Schmidt said cleanup of the scene was underway.
Police said in a tweet Wednesday evening that the highway remained closed in both directions.
The crash took place in the northbound lanes of Highway 400 south of Barrie, Ont., late Tuesday when police said a transport truck crashed into slowing traffic.
That triggered a pileup that involved at least four transport trucks and two fuel tankers, spilling thousands of litres of fuel on the road. The impact caused a fireball.
“The temperatures that were achieved in this fire are apocalyptic,” Schmidt said.
Police said the northbound lanes of the highway — between Country Road 88 and Highway 89 — might need to be repaired before traffic can resume.
The names of those killed have not been released. Police also said several people were injured in the crash but have since been released from hospital.
OPP commissioner Vince Hawkes, who just days earlier had sounded the alarm about fatal collisions caused by distracted truck drivers, said the latest crash could have killed many more people.
“It’s a miracle that we don’t have 25 bodies down there,” Hawkes said.