1 dead, 4 taken to hospital after fiery crash on Gardiner Expressway

One person is dead and four others were taken to hospital after a fiery crash on the Gardiner Expressway on Tuesday, Toronto police say.

The crash involving five vehicles happened in the westbound lanes of the expressway near Yonge Street, according to Acting Insp. Phil Sinclair, duty senior officer for the Toronto Police Service.

Three vehicles caught fire following the collision. One of the vehicles had flipped on its side against the barrier and was fully engulfed in flames when emergency crews arrived, police said in a news release Wednesday. 

Sinclair said Tuesday evening that police received several calls about a serious collision at about 5:40 p.m. Callers reported that several vehicles were on fire and that people may have been trapped in the vehicles.

Toronto police, fire and paramedics went to the scene, he said. Toronto Fire Services put out the fire.

The driver of one vehicle, a 68-year-old man, was pronounced dead at the scene, police say. Paramedics took the four people, all adults, to hospital with injuries, with conditions ranging from minor to serious.

"This is obviously a very, very tragic situation which occurred on the highway, a very tragic situation for our first responders as well, and this is a very tough one for us," Sinclair told reporters near the scene.

"It it is fairly unusual that, with heavy traffic, that you get a collision of such a nature," he added.

Sinclair said the events that led to the collision remain under investigation.

Earlier, police said one vehicle in the crash flipped over and caught fire. Toronto Fire Services said the fire involved three vehicles in all.

Paramedics had said five people were taken to hospital, but police revised that number later, saying the total injured was four.

Police are appealing for witnesses, including those with dashboard camera video, to come forward to police.

Road closures are continuing on Tuesday evening and motorists should expect delays, police said.

"It's a very large, complex scene and I anticipate it will be quite a few more hours," he said.

The westbound lanes of the Gardiner Expressway from the Don Valley Parkway to the Jarvis Street on-ramp, as well the Southbound Don Valley Parkway at the Richmond Street exit, were closed for several hours Tuesday but have since reopened.