Fatal accidents close Highway 50 twice in one week

Two separate fatal accidents resulted in the closure of Highway 50 between Grenville and Lachute, in a period of five days.

In the most recent, a 19-year-old woman was killed on Tuesday, February 8 when two vehicles collided during the early morning commute.

The accident occurred around 6:45 a.m., as the two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions along a slight curve near Lachute.

Police report the 19-year-old female driver was travelling westbound, when she deviated from her lane and hit an oncoming SUV.

Her identity is being withheld while police notify family members, but she is reported to be a Lachute resident.

She had initially been taken to the CSSS Argenteuil Hospital in Lachute with serious injuries, but was later declared dead.

The female driver of the SUV, from St-Colomban, suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries.

The collision occurred on a slight curve in the highway in a 100-kilometre-per-hour zone. Police have not yet determined the cause of this accident, but investigators were on the scene Tuesday morning (see photo on page 21).

On Friday morning, February 4, a man in his thirties was killed instantly when his vehicle rear-ended a tractor trailer parked on the shoulder of the Grenville exit on Highway 50.

The accident occurred around 9:30 a.m. when, for unknown reasons, the man's vehicle collided with the back of the tractor trailer.

According to police, the truck was parked on the shoulder of the Grenville exit off-ramp, facing west.

"The driver was killed on impact," confirmed Sûreté du Québec spokesperson Christine Coulombe.

Traffic on Highway 50 between Lachute and Grenville was rerouted for about four hours. Vehicles were redirected to Highway 148 until the highway was reopened at 1:30 p.m.