Heavy truck and car pileup on Highway 20 leaves 1 dead, 2 seriously injured
Highway 20 closed for several hours, causing traffic to back up to the Ontario border
One person is dead after seven heavy trucks and about a dozen cars piled up in the eastbound lane of Highway 20 in Rivière-Beaudette, Que., just west of Montreal.
The first collision occurred just after 11 p.m. Wednesday when a semi-trailer truck jackknifed, according to provincial police spokesperson Sgt. Claude Denis.
Vehicles began piling up behind the jackknifed truck, killing one woman and leaving two people with serious, but non-life-threatening injuries.
The blocked lanes caused eastbound traffic to back up all the way to the Ontario border.
Police, firefighters, ambulance workers and crews with Transports Québec responded. They temporarily closed the highway in both directions.
Highway 20 was completely reopened just before 5 a.m., Denis said.
Weather conditions were difficult at the time of the collision, he said, and, at this point, investigators are not charging anybody with a criminal infraction.
DERNIÈRE HEURE: l’autoroute 20 Est, à Rivière-Beaudette, fermée à la circulation en raison d’un carambolage possiblement mortel entre poids lourds survenu vers minuit. Conditions routières difficiles en raison de la bruine verglaçante. Soyez prudents (photos: <a href="https://twitter.com/ABelandRC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ABelandRC</a>) <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcmtl?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#rcmtl</a> <a href="https://t.co/RV1EFVJy1d">pic.twitter.com/RV1EFVJy1d</a>
—@pascalrobidasWith files from Jay Turnbull