ST-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU — Roger Turcotte has lived along Highway 104 for close to 40 years and in that time he’s witnessed many car crashes.
But he told Global News that the one that took place Sunday night was definitely the worst.
At around 10:30 p.m., police said a black pickup truck was driving on the two lane roadway.
For an unknown reason, the driver veered out of his lane and slammed head-on into a much smaller vehicle: a Toyota Yaris.
A second pickup truck riding behind the small car also drove straight into the vehicle.
The women inside were seriously injured.
“They suffered serious lower-body injuries,” said Cst. Martin Anctil of the St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu police department.
“Their legs were crushed.”
The 49-year-old and 69-year-old women are both in critical condition in hospital.
One of the crash victims is being treated at Montreal’s General Hospital.
“We tried to open the door to help them,” Turcotte told Global News.
“The door wouldn’t open. We couldn’t do anything. We saw them suffering. It was horrible.”
Emergency crews were forced to use the “Jaws of Life” to cut open the roof of the Yaris and rescue the women from inside their vehicle.
In all, there were eight people inside the three vehicles, including 4 children.
Police said the others only suffered minor injuries.
An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident.
The 32-year-old driver of the black pickup truck underwent a number of blood-alcohol tests at the scene.
“As of now, it appears the cause of the crash may be related to fatigue or the driver may have been distracted by his children,” Cst. Anctil said.
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