Wrong-way SUV in fatal 401 crash

Head-on collision kills mother and her mother-in-law

A triple-traffic fatality has claimed the life of a young mother, her mother-in-law and the driver of an SUV that collided head-on with their vehicle on Highway 401 near Lancaster, Ont., on Saturday evening.

Police responded to a three-vehicle crash on the 401 westbound just before 8 p.m. on Saturday.

Police said on Sunday that an SUV was driving the wrong way along the highway. The vehicle, driven by 28-year-old Jonathan Cawthron of Nova Scotia, was travelling eastbound in the westbound lanes.

The opposing lanes are separated by a large median ditch, Const. Tylor Copeland said.

It’s not yet known by police why or how Cawthron ended up in the westbound lanes. Investigators haven’t found any markings in the ditch to suggest the SUV came across the divider.

A westbound Hyundai was passing a tractor-trailer, using the designated passing lane. The Hyundai pulled out from behind the tractortrailer and almost immediately collided with the SUV, travelling in the wrong direction. The collision sent the SUV directly into the tractortrailer.

Cawthron, the driver of the SUV, was pronounced dead at the scene of the accident.

The passenger in the Hyundai, 27-year-old Akansksha Jain from Kingston, was also pronounced dead at the scene.

The three surviving occupants of the Hyundai — a 31-year-old driver whose wife was killed, their three-year-old son and the driver’s 58-year-old mother — were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Sharad Srivastava, a back-seat passenger, died in hospital overnight.

The 53-year-old driver of the tractor-trailer wasn’t injured.

The OPP continue to investigate the collision.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 613-5342223 or at 1-888-310-1122.