Five people were seriously injured Sunday in a violent accident on Highway 20, near Saint-Zotique, in Montérégie. The authorities fear for their lives. A major section of the highway has been closed to let investigators from the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) work.
Emergency services were called to the scene of the collision around 10:45 a.m. early Sunday. Two vehicles, including a heavy goods vehicle, were involved.
According to Agent Camille Savoie, spokesperson for the SQ, five people were rushed to a hospital center, “where there are currently fears for their lives,” she said. Rescue pliers even had to be used to extricate them from their vehicles.
According to the first information available, “the driver of a heavy-duty type truck would not have been able to stop in time in the face of slowing traffic and would have struck a sport utility vehicle in which five people were seated. , two adults and three children, ”said the Sûreté du Québec in a press release at the start of the afternoon.
Agents-reconstitutionists were sent to the scene, along with several investigators, in order to shed light on the events.
Highway 20 is therefore likely to be severely obstructed for a good part of the day from kilometer 6. One out of two traffic lanes has been closed in the east direction, while all automobile traffic has been interrupted in the west direction “ for an indefinite period”, according to the government platform Quebec 511.
Note: this was the second accident in a short time in the sector. Earlier in the day, Sunday, local media NéoMédia had reported that around 4:30 a.m., another tractor-trailer driver had also hit a guard – on Highway 20 near Rivière-Beaudette. Some 40,000 liters of gasoline had then escaped.