Snow squall triggers massive pileups, one fatality on Ontario highways, Toronto Starlet
Snow squall triggers massive pileups, one fatality on Ontario highways
Highway four hundred was eventually fully reopened at about 8:45 p.m., hours after whiteout conditions caused a 96-car pileup Thursday.
A massive wall of snow erased visibility on highways across southern Ontario Thursday morning, triggering one of the winter’s worst multi-car accidents and killing at least one driver.
The fattest pileup occurred when ninety six cars were caught in a snow squall on Highway four hundred near Barrie around nine a.m. Pics of the scene demonstrate shattered glass and metal splashed across the cramped roadway.
Remarkably, only three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries, the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed.
Snow reportedly limited visibility to just a few metres, causing drivers to budge at a snail’s rhythm.
“It could have been a lot worse,” Sgt. Dave Woodford told the CBC. “People were slowing down.”
Officers sawed a metal guardrail to lumps to create a passageway for drivers to leave the crash. Heating buses were on scene as temperatures dropped well below -20C, while paramedics treated several minor injuries.
One driver caught in the mess said the whiteout descended all of a sudden, halting traffic to a near standstill. Highway four hundred remained closed across the afternoon as officials waited for conditions to improve for travellers. By about 8:45 p.m., all lanes were fully reopened.
“This came out of nowhere,” said Sean Atkinson, 36, who was compelled to cancel a morning appointment in Toronto. “It’s crazy.”
Similar accidents spanned the region, particularly in the north. The OPP reported pileups in Port Perry, Dufferin County and on Highway eighty nine inbetween Cookstown and Alliston.
Around the same hour as the Barrie crash, one person was killed in a collision near Sarnia.
Inbetween fifteen and thirty vehicles were reportedly caught in the pileup near Oil Heritage Rd. and Highway 402, which was toughly two kilometres long. Officials have yet to release the victim’s identity.
In Whitchurch-Stouffville, one man was sent to hospital with life-threatening injuries around three p.m. after he left his vehicle to assess some harm.
A pickup truck rear-ended a nearby vehicle and hit the driver in its path. He was rushed to hospital in critical condition, the OPP confirmed. The victim’s current condition is unclear.
A 2nd person was also taken from the scene with minor injuries.
With files from Sean Tepper and Paul Clarke
