3 in hospital after crash closes Ontario's Highway 401 in Chatham-Kent

A two-vehicle crash on Highway 401 Thursday morning in Chatham-Kent has sent three people to hospital, including one person with serious injuries who was airlifted, according to Ontario Provincial Police.

In a tweet, OPP said officers from its Chatham detachment were at the scene of the crash, which happened around 9:30 a.m. in the eastbound lanes of the highway west of Bloomfield Road.

Two people suffered minor injuries. The third person has life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a Windsor hospital.

It wasn't immediately clear if the crash had anything to do with the convoy of trucks protesting the cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which took to the 401 Thursday morning, heading east from the Windsor area to Ottawa

Derek Rogers, an OPP spokesperson, said the collision involved a pickup truck and a small vehicle, and the collision is under investigation.

Rogers told CBC News he can't confirm whether or not the convoy was part of the accident, saying that's under investigation.

During a media briefing Thursday, Chatham-Kent fire Chief Chris Case called the crash severe, and said it was not related to the convoy.

The highway in the area of the collision was closed starting at around 9:30 a.m. OPP said on Twitter at 2:30 p.m. that it has reopened.

Police had been redirecting traffic at Queen's Line Road and had asked people to plan alternate routes.

Part of truck convoy stuck behind accident scene

Windsor automotive worker Serge Lachapelle, who is taking part in the truck convoy, told CBC News on Thursday that a number of them have been stuck on the highway behind the scene of the accident.

Around noon, Lachapelle said he was about 50 to 100 yards (44 to 91 metres) away from the accident scene, and has been there since 9:30 a.m.

He said OPP told drivers that a truck was carrying a four-wheeler, and it fell out of the truck and hit another vehicle, causing the accident.

Lachapelle said the OPP told them around 11:30 a.m. that it would be another one to two hours before the road is cleared.

He said hundreds of drivers arrived in Comber for the convoy around 8 a.m., and started leaving about an hour later. Lachapelle said he believes that part of the convoy was ahead of the accident, so were still en route to Ottawa.