Highway 401 reopens after crash near Chatham involving 3 trucks
A crash involving three tractor-trailers led to the complete shutdown of a stretch of Highway 401 near Chatham for about three hours on Wednesday afternoon.
The eastbound lanes of the highway reopened in the mid-afternoon. About two hours later, the Ontario Provincial Police reported that the westbound lanes had also reopened.
OPP Const. Janine Belanger told CBC News that the crash occurred around noon, in the westbound lanes of the highway.
Belanger said that two tractor-trailers were stopped and a third tractor-trailer slammed into the rear one. That pushed the truck in the middle toward the truck in front of it.
The driver of the rear truck ended up trapped in his cab, Belanger said. He had to be extricated from the vehicle and Belanger said he was then airlifted to a hospital in London.
Belanger said the other two truck drivers did not immediately report any injuries.
There was also a diesel spill as a result of the crash, Belanger said.
The crash occurred in a stretch of highway that is currently reduced to a single lane in each direction, as a result of some ongoing construction.
