Kenora OPP is investigating an accident which killed four people around 7 a.m. today on the Trans-Canada Highway about five km east of the Highway 71 junction.
A fifth person was taken to Lake of the Woods District Hospital in Kenora, police said.
The accident involved a transport truck and another vehicle, police noted, but other details, as well the identities of the victims and condition of the fifth person, were not available as of press time.
Highway 17 was closed to all traffic from Highway 71 through to Vermilion Bay as of press time.
As an alternate route, eastbound motorists can take Highway 71 south to Highway 11 and then Highway 11 east to the junction of Highway 11/17 at Shabaqua or north on Highway 502 to Dryden.
Westbound motorists from the Dryden area can travel south on Highway 502 to Highway 11, and then west to Highway 71 and north to Kenora.