Five people deceased and Highway 401 reopened
On Saturday March 12, 2022, at approximately 3:45 a.m. officers from the Quinte West Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a motor vehicle collision on Highway 401 west bound, between Aikens Road and St. Hilaire Road. A tractor trailer and a passenger van were involved in a collision resulting in five fatalities, and two additional passengers were transported to hospital with serious injuries. One person from the van was not injured along with the driver of the tractor trailer was not injured.
It appears from the damage to the vehicles it was a rear-end collision, but investigators have yet to confirm.
OPP Technical Collision Investigators (TCIs) and OPP Collision Reconstructionists attended the scene and both west bound lanes of the 401 were closed between Wallbridge Loyalist Road and Glen Miller Road for approximately 10 hours. Traffic has now returned to normal through the area with both lanes reopened. The investigation into this collision is continuing at this time and updates will be provided as they become available. The identities of the deceased will not be released until families have been notified.
More details to follow.