'Haunting' scene after 3 dead, 2 critically injured in head-on collision near Pickering

Police say three people are dead and two others suffered life-threatening injuries after a head-on collision on Highway 7 near Pickering Tuesday evening. 

The collision happened near Concession Road 6. Officers with Ontario Provincial Police's (OPP) Toronto detachment responded to the crash at around 7 p.m., police said in a news release issued Wednesday.

"Absolutely horrific knowing that three people have lost their lives in a very preventable crash, as we're trying to understand what the circumstances were that led to this collision," said OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt.

He said the crash is under investigation, but that speed, weather and alcohol do not appear to be factors at this time. 

A vehicle with four people travelling westbound drifted into the opposite lane and collided head-on with another vehicle going eastbound, said Schmidt. 

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle in the eastbound lane, an 82-year-old woman of Port Perry, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. 

Two female passengers in the back seats of the westbound vehicle, a 63-year-old resident of Markham and a 68-year-old resident of Scarborough, were also pronounced dead at the scene. 

The vehicle's driver and a third passenger were taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. 

Schmidt said everyone appeared to be wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash. 

He urged any witnesses or people with dashcam footage from the area at the time of the incident to contact the OPP.

Crash site was 'haunting': witness

Belinda LaBelle-Logan, who owns a garden centre and equestrian facility near the site of the collision, said she heard a "huge" boom on Tuesday and immediately ran out with her husband to the "haunting" scene. 

"You couldn't see the front end of the car. There was debris across all four lanes," she said. "I didn't sleep last night. It's the scene that I'm probably never going to forget."

LaBelle-Logan said she began to help the driver of the westbound vehicle who was in and out of consciousness on the ground. 

But there was no hope for the passengers in the back when they checked on them, she said. 

"I checked for a pulse, there was no signs. So yeah, that was hard to take in."

LaBelle-Logan said she's seen an "astonishing" number of accidents happen on Highway 7 between Salem Road and Westney Road.

She said she hopes the municipality and police can do something there to "make the roads a safer place."