2 seriously injured in 401 crash involving pig truck

Two people were seriously injured — and at least 50 pigs escaped onto the country's busiest highway — after a multi-vehicle accident just west of Toronto on Monday.

The collision involving a tractor-trailer hauling about 200 pigs, a pickup truck and two other vehicles happened on Highway 401 during morning rush hour.

The drivers of a car and a pickup truck were transported to hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the transport truck and another vehicle suffered minor injuries.

All lanes of the 401 near Winston Churchill Boulevard were closed for almost two hours. The westbound lanes were later reopened but the eastbound lanes remained closed for hours at the crash site.

On the other side of the highway, an Enbridge Gas pickup truck sat with its back end smashed in, metal tools and glass from the truck littering the highway.

About 50 pigs escaped onto the busy highway. Some of the animals were killed in the accident and others injured.

Provincial police Sgt. Cam Woolley, looking at a small Honda that had been badly damaged in the accident, said it could have been much worse.

"A bar has come right through the dashboard of this car, so, as bad as this was, I think we're very lucky it wasn't a fatality. Had the big rig hit this Honda first, I really think it would not have been survivable," he said.

Police said most of the pigs were rounded up and put into a trailer.

"At least several were killed in the crash. Two had to be euthanized by OPP officers that first arrived on scene, that had horrible injuries. The only humane thing to do was to euthanize them," said Woolley.

The highway reopened entirely at about 3 p.m.