Fatal collision on 401 westbound in Quinte West

OPP have reopened the westbound lanes of the 401 in Quinte West and are continuing to investigate a fatal collision that took place early on Saturday morning.

“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 westbound, between Aikens Road and St. Hilaire Road,” OPP said in a release. According to police, 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.

The driver (and lone occupant) of the tractor trailer was not injured.

Harpreet Singh, 24 years old, Jaspinder Singh, 21 years old, Karanpal Singh, 22 years old, Mohit Chouhan, 23 years old, and Pawan Kumar, 23 years old, who were all studying in Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area from India were pronounced dead at the scene.

The current condition of the other two passengers is unknown at this time.

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.

According to OPP, 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. No charges have been laid,” OPP said.