Two dead after tanker truck crashes, sparks massive fireball on Highway 401 in Pickering, stretch of highway remains closed
A stretch of Highway 401 remains closed after a tanker truck crashed late Tuesday in Pickering, sparking a massive fireball that killed two drivers.
Around 10:30 p.m., an eastbound transport truck hauling fuel lost control and hit the concrete divider that separates highway traffic near Brock Road, according to Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.
The tanker apparently collided into the concrete wall, separating eastbound [and] westbound lanes, rolled over, ruptured and caught fire and resulted in a massive fireball," Schmidt told the Star Wednesday morning.
Two other vehicles, a truck carrying flour and a passenger car, had been travelling west when they drove through the flames and caught fire, according to police.
Police said both drivers of the transport trucks were found without vital signs and pronounced dead at the scene.
Remarkably, the two people in the third vehicle escaped the explosion unscathed and reportedly didn't seek medical attention.
They went home," said Schmidt, who said police hadn't yet spoken with the survivors. They were not injured at all."
The collision initially shut down Highway 401 in both directions, between Westney Road in Ajax and Whites Road in Pickering.
By late Wednesday morning, Schmidt said westbound lanes between Westney and the Liverpool area were still completely blocked. However, eastbound traffic is open, though drivers have to exit the highway around Brock Road before you can return, he said.
Traffic remained heavy in both directions. It's unclear when traffic will fully reopen.
The OPP's on-scene investigation is nearly complete, and the force is now assisting the coroner, Schmidt noted.
But it's up to Ontario's ministry of transportation to determine what remediation might be required before vehicles can reenter, according to Schmidt.
Avoid the area. Investigation's ongoing. There's going to be a lot of cleanup that needs to be done," he said.
In terms of what happened, why it happened. That has yet to be determined."
With files from The Canadian Press
Ben Mussett is a Toronto-based general assignment reporter for the Star. Reach him via email: bmussett@thestar.ca