One person is dead and two others are injured after separate crashes on the 401 in Chatham-Kent.
Around 11am Monday morning, a tractor trailer carrying salt caught fire in the eastbound lanes near Orford Rd., resulting in the highways eastbound lanes being shut down.
The driver and lone occupant of the truck was transported to an area hospital for treatment of life altering injuries after a tire on the truck exploded as he was attempting to extinguish the fire.
A salt truck spills its load on the 401 in Chatham-Kent after catching fire, March 4, 2019 (Photo courtesy of OPP)
Later in the day, around 2:30pm, another crash happened near the 116km marker — this rear end collision involved two tractor trailers and an SUV.
The lone male driver of one of the tractor trailers was pronounced dead at the scene and the lone male driver of the second tractor trailer and the lone female driver of the SUV were not injured.
A third crash involving a tractor trailer and a pick up happened around 3:45pm at the 107km marker and involved non-life threatening injuries.
The eastbound lanes of Highway 401 between Kent Bridge Rd. and Orford Rd. were closed for several hours and the investigation continues.
One of three crashes on the 401 eastbound in Chatham-Kent, Monday March 4, 2019 (Photo courtesy of OPP)