One person died following a three-vehicle collision which included two transport trucks on Hwy. 7 in the village of Havelock early Thursday.
According to Peterborough County OPP, the transports and a passenger vehicle collided around 4:45 a.m. on the highway at the intersection on County Road 30 on the west side of the village 40 kilometres east of Peterborough.
Both transports erupted into flames. Const. Joe Ayotte says one of the trucks was carrying explosive materials and experts were called to the scene.
Video submitted to Global News Peterborough shows loud pops coming from one truck as Havelock-Belmont-Methuen Township firefighters attempted to extinguish the fires.
In their initial investigation, OPP say a passenger vehicle was stopped behind a transport truck at the traffic lights when it was struck from behind by another tractor trailer.
OPP said the driver of the passenger vehicle was pronounced deceased at scene. The name of the victim has yet to be released pending notification of next-of-kin.
The section of highway at the traffic lights in front of Tim Hortons will remain closed for several hours, OPP said.
The area was initially evacuated as a precaution but around 8:30 a.m. OPP said the evacuation was downgraded to a “shelter-in-place” as residents were advised to remain inside.
The shelter-in-place was lifted around 9:15 a.m. by Canadian Transport Emergency Centre (CANTEC) staff, OPP said.
Witness Jessica Goslin says she and her husband drove from Norwood and arrived to the scene and saw a series of small explosions followed by a larger one as firefighters began to spray water on the trucks.
“We could see the second truck and we assumed it was just the two trucks involved,” she said. “When we were able to leave we went back to Norwood where we were informed a witness at the accident saw a small car go under the truck pushed by the truck going westbound through the intersection. The car impact is what started the fire.”
Goslin capture this image at the scene:
“We looked at footage I took while arriving on scene and were able to notice that the truck bed was elevated as if something wedged beneath and what was under truck was fully engulfed,” she said.
OPP reopened the section of highway around 7:30 p.m.