Infant killed, mother critical after Ontario highway crash
A 17-month-old girl is dead and her mother remains in critical condition after a collision on a highway in southwestern Ontario on Saturday night.
The Ontario Provincial Police received a call at 6:27 p.m. about a Volkswagen Jetta that had become disabled in a “live lane” on Highway 7/8, west of Fischer Hallman Road in Kitchener, Ont.
But while officers were en route to the scene, a second call came in about a collision at the same location.
"On the scene, they observed a cube van that had been driven into the rear of the Volkswagen Jetta," OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford told CBC News in a telephone interview on Sunday morning.
Woodford said a man, woman and infant were transported to a local hospital. The Canadian Press reported that the man and woman were married and were the parents of the infant.
Police learned that the 36-year-old mother and infant were subsequently taken to separate hospitals in Hamilton, where the child was pronounced dead. The 38-year-old father received only minor injuries.
Woodford said the mother remained in critical condition as of Sunday morning.
The driver, a 53-year-old Kitchener man, was arrested at the scene and now faces eight charges, including six impaired driving-related counts. He was not injured in the collision.
The collision remains under investigation.
