Police officially identify one of three victims in deadly Highway 400 crash

COOKSTOWN, Ont. — Ontario Provincial Police have identified one of the three victims of last week’s fiery pileup on a highway north of Toronto.

Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says 37-year-old Benjamin Dunn of North Bay, Ont., was driving one of the two fuel tankers involved in the Highway 400 crash that set off a massive fireball and sent motorists running for their lives.

Dunn’s wife, Nikiyah Mulak-Dunn, has said her husband was a veteran truck driver who worked three jobs to provide for their nine children.

Schmidt says the intensity of the fire has made it difficult for the coroner’s office to officially identify those who died in the crash.

He says investigators hope to confirm the identity of the second victim this week, but adds it will take more time to identify the third.

The 14-vehicle collision happened Halloween night on Highway 400 near County Road 88 in Cookstown, Ont., when at least one truck slammed into vehicles stopped in the area because of an earlier collision.

Schmidt says the cause is still under investigation and authorities would not be releasing information.

The Canadian Press