VIDEO: Whitby crash details emerge after four killed on Highway 401

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Published April 30, 2024 at 11:46 am

More details have emerged regarding this morning’s fatal crash on Highway 401.

Special Investigation Unit spokesperson Monica Hudon held a press conference shortly before 11 a.m. in which she shared more information about the crash.

She confirmed the U-Haul cargo van was on the move after the driver allegedly robbed an LCBO on Green Road and Highway 2 sometime before 8 p.m. on April 29. Durham Police officers pursued the truck through several streets until it entered the highway at Stevenson Road in Oshawa.

The U-Haul driver entered the highway the wrong way and continued to drive against traffic into Whitby. Several Durham Police cars pursued the van, also against traffic, on the busy roadway.

Just east of Highway 412, the van collided with several other vehicles, including a sedan and a transport truck. A total of six cars were involved in the crash, the SIU said. The grandparents, 60 and 55, and the infant were killed in the collision, as was the driver of the U-Haul.

The driver of the transport truck had to be extricated from his cabin as the crash had caved in the front of his truck. He was taken to hospital with serious injuries. None of the drivers have been publically identified. No officers have been reported injured.

Since the crash occurred during a police chase, the SIU was brought in to investigate the circumstances. Five investigators, one forensic investigator and one collision reconstructionist have been assigned to the case.

Both sides of the highway were shuttered overnight between Lake Ridge Road and Brock Street for the investigation. However, both have since reopened.

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