Nova Scotia

Highway 103 reopens nearly 24 hours after fatal crash

Highway 103 has reopened, nearly 24 hours after a fatal crash claimed the life of 40-year-old Janet Joanne MacNeil.

Janet Joanne MacNeil, 40, was killed after head-on collision with a transport truck

Debris from Monday's fatal crash on Highway 103 in Lunenburg County stretched for 200 metres. (CBC)

Highway 103 has reopened, nearly 24 hours after a fatal crash claimed the life of 40-year-old Janet Joanne MacNeil.

At around 9:50 a.m. Monday, RCMP, fire crews and Emergency Health Services responded to a report of a head-on collision between a transport truck and a car.

Police say a preliminary investigation determined a tractor-trailer was heading toward Bridgewater and MacNeil’s car was heading towards Halifax when the crash happened.

MacNeil was pronounced dead at the scene.

CBC's Blair Rhodes was at the scene Monday.

He said it appeared as though the driver of the truck made a desperate bid to avoid the crash. The tractor trailer ended up deep in the woods after leaving the road. The cab had jackknifed at a 90-degree angle to the trailer.

As it left the road, one of the fuel tanks sheared from the truck, resulting in a spill of diesel fuel near the site. A containment boom was set up in a nearby waterway. 

Traffic was being rerouted between Exit 11, Blockhouse and Exit 12, Bridgewater.

Highway 103 was closed overnight as a traffic analyst investigated. The debris field from the crash stretched 200 metres along the highway.