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Man dead, 5 injured after vehicles crash on Highway 403 in Mississauga

A man is dead and five other people injured after several vehicles crashed on Highway 403 in Mississauga early Sunday, police and paramedics say.

Westbound lanes of Highway 403 have reopened between Erin Mills Parkway and Highway 407

Ontario Provincial Police officers inspect debris on Highway 403 after a crash early Sunday killed one person and sent five others to hospital. (Jeremy Cohn)

A man is dead and five other people injured after several vehicles crashed on Highway 403 in Mississauga early Sunday, police and paramedics say. 

Police have identified the dead man as Kumarasamy Gunaratnam, 63.

The crash occurred in the westbound lanes of Highway 403 west of Winston Churchill Boulevard. It closed a stretch of Highway 403 westbound for hours as officers investigated.

"Factors surrounding the collision are still under investigation," Sgt. Kerry Schmidt, spokesperson for the OPP's highway safety division, said in a tweet on Sunday.

Emergency crews were called to the scene at about 6:15 a.m.

Injuries deemed serious

Peel paramedics said Gunaratnam was pronounced dead at the scene and they took five people to a local hospital with serious but not-life-threatening injuries. 

A sixth person was treated at the scene for minor injuries but refused to be transported.

Ontario Provincial Police closed a stretch of Highway 403 westbound in Mississauga, near Oakville, for hours. (Jeremy Cohn)

Steve Walker, superintendent for Peel Regional Paramedic Services, said on Sunday that a total of six ambulances attended. 

Debris was strewn on the highway after the fatal crash. Two cars on the side of the highway appeared crumpled after the crash.

Westbound lanes of Highway 403, which were closed between Erin Mills Parkway and Highway 407, have fully reopened.