50-vehicle pile-up in Canada shuts down major motorway

50 motorists were taken to a hotel for the night

(ITN)

A 50-vehicle pile-up on a motorway in Canada resulted in a huge clean-up effort on Wednesday, with work expected to continue until Thursday.

The incident occurred around 12:10am on Wednesday, with large trucks and tractor trailers colliding all down Highway 401 near Trenton, Ontario, due to heavy ice on the road. The police blamed the massive pile-up on the poor weather.

With Ontario Provincial Police realising the huge task required to clear the road, they brought in buses to take 50 drivers to a nearby hotel for the evening.

A spokesperson for the Ontario environment ministry told The National Post that 4,000 litres of oil spilled from one truck involved in the crash, but there was no concern over its environmental impact.

James Dawson, a truck driver who managed to avoid being involved in the crunch, told CBC News that the accident occurred on a downhill section of the motorway covered in icy snow.

""It's a mess down here," he told CBC early on Wednesday. "It's crazy. Trailers are chopped in half".

Dawson said he saw around 33 tractor trailers damaged, with several vehicles he considered to be complete write-offs.

While police managed to open the westbound lanes of the 401 on Wednesday morning, the eastbound lanes remained closed by nightfall.