MONTREAL—The day after Christmas was fatal on Quebec’s roads as two people died in separate crashes and six were sent to hospital.
A 46-year-old woman is dead after the car she was traveling in was rear-ended while waiting at a red light at the corner of Cote-Vertu Blvd. and Cavendish Blvd. at 11:20 a.m. Wednesday.
The woman was unconscious when paramedics arrived and she went into cardiac arrest soon after. She was pronounced dead early in the afternoon at hospital.
The woman was a passenger in the vehicle with three other people at the time. The others were brought to hospital with minor injuries. Investigators closed off the intersection to examine the scene.
“At this time, everything is on the table,” said Danny Richer of the Montreal police. “Was it the speed? Was it the sun? We don’t know at this time.”
The police are interviewing the driver of the vehicle which ran into the victim’s car. He did not suffer serious injuries in the crash and was treated on the scene.
Garbage truck driver dead
A man died on the morning of Boxing Day when the garbage truck he was driving caught fire after an accident on Highway 20 near Boucherville.
The incident occurred at about 6:20 a.m. near a construction zone not far from the Mortagne Blvd. exit.
The driver was travelling westbound and lost control of his vehicle before crossing the median. The truck then hit a wall, flipped on its side and a fire broke out in the cabin.
The driver, 40, was unable to escape the blaze and died in the fire. His passenger managed to get out with only minor injuries.
The highway was closed in both directions because a signal structure was damaged by the accident until Wednesday afternoon. Several firefighters and police officers came to the site and Transports Quebec recommended that drivers avoid the area.
Two seriously injured near Granby
Two drivers suffered serious injuries when their cars collided face-on in Granby at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The cars were driving on Route 139 near the intersection with Rue Principal when on vehicle veered into oncoming traffic.
Both drivers were transported to Granby hospital, where a woman and man in their 60s are in serious condition, but police do not fear for their lives.
While Route 139 was closed for most of the afternoon as investigators were on-site, police did not suspect that alcohol, weather or road conditions were a factor.
While the exact cause of the crash has to be established, witnesses reported that one car moved into the oncoming lane to pass a slow car.
—With files from The Canadian Press.
