The Trans-Canada Highway reopened to all traffic around 8:30 p.m. yesterday after being closed for 20 hours due to a fatal truck accident about 25 km east of Dryden.
The two transport trucks collided head-on around 1:30 a.m. yesterday, killing four people–two from Owen Sound, Ont., one from Beausejour, Man., and another from Winnipeg, Man.
“Everything was gutted. There was such widespread destruction, the debris was everywhere,” Dryden OPP Cst. R.T. Krueger said this morning.
“The traffic investigations unit is still looking at what happened by examining the evidence,” he added.
Due to the severity of the collision and the resulting fire, dental records will be required to make positive identifications of the victims, police noted.
“As soon as we get them identified, we’ll release the names,” Cst. Krueger said.
The highway closure was complicated by the fact one of the trucks was carrying two canisters of radioactive material (iridium).
“The biggest factor in getting the road open was getting the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission fellows from Toronto,” said Cst. Krueger. “We’d contacted them but we weren’t allowed to touch the materials ourselves.
“It was a real safety issue.”
The CNSC technicians eventually arrived and removed the canisters from the scene yesterday, securing them in a safe area near Dryden until they can be properly disposed, he added.
Iridium most often is used for industrial purposes, such as surveying land.
The radioactive nature of the cargo prompted some concern, admitted Cst. Krueger, including a letter from NDP leader and local MPP Howard Hampton.
His letter posed questions such as:
•“Does the radioactive material pose any threat to people’s health and safety in the area?”
•“What measures are being put in place so radiation hazards are minimized in terms of people’s health and safety?” and
•“What measures are being taken to advise people in the immediate area west and east of the crash site in terms of health and safety and precautions that people may take?”
“We were assured by the CNSC that everything was intact and there was no leakage,” said Cst. Krueger, adding the crash occurred along on a sparsely-populated stretch of the highway.
Police are continuing their investigation into the accident.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
