A chain of collisions on Highway 400 southbound in Barrie’s south end and Innisfil around noon on Sunday involved more than a dozen vehicles with two people being extricated from a vehicle.
The first collision occurred between Mapleview Drive and Innisfil Beach Road, resulting in a vehicle flipping onto its side.
“As a result of that initial collision, we’ve had at least seven or eight reports of additional collisions behind that original one,” OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said in a recorded statement posted on Twitter.
He warned that roads are damp and icy in some areas, but said there were no other weather-related factors that contributed to the series of crashes.
Multiple collisions on #Hwy400 sb between Mapleview Drive and Innisfil Beach Road. The first crash involved 10 vehicles, 2 people to hospital with minor injuries. #AuroraOPP on scene and investigating, expect delays in the area. Salters will be coming through before reopening. pic.twitter.com/Cca0eRgYg1
— OPP Highway Safety Division (@OPP_HSD) January 23, 2022
Emergency personnel were clearing the area and waiting for salters to come through in order to reopen the highway.
There were no collisions in the northbound lanes.
Meanwhile, traffic was backing up to Bayfield Street this afternoon.
Barrie Deputy Fire Chief Ed Davis said the two people removed from the vehicle were taken to hospital by land ambulance. An air ambulance was dispatched to the scene, but was not required.
“Using our hydraulics, our cutters, we had to extricate two patients from a vehicle that was on its side,” about one kilometre north of Innisfil Beach Road, Davis said.
There were reports of up to 10 vehicles involved in that first crash.