Hazmat spill from truck kills driver, closes Ontario highway 401

A stretch of Highway 401 through eastern Ontario remained closed early Wednesday following weather-related collisions that left one person dead, 28 people injured and officials scrambling to contain a chemical spill.

Ontario Provincial Police say there were two collisions on the highway near Kingston on Tuesday blamed on wind-whipped snow and slick roads. It was not immediately clear when the highway would fully reopen.

Const. Sandra Barr said the first collision at about 2 p.m. involved five tractor trailers and a car. The second collision, also in the westbound lanes and about one kilometre away, involved seven tractor trailers and three vehicles.

A tow truck enroute to a collision on Highway 401 near Mallorytown, Ontario March 14, 2017. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Lars Hagberg

Multiple chain reaction crashes then followed the initial collisions.

Police said one of the transport trucks involved in the collisions leaked a toxic substance, and its driver later died in hospital.

Kingston General Hospital said 29 people were treated there after the collisions, including the one fatality.

Spokeswoman Meagan Quinn said some patients were being discharged by Tuesday night, but the hospital could not say how many people were still there by early Wednesday morning.