Blowing snow caused a massive pile-up on Highway 400 south of Barrie this morning.

It happened around 9 a.m. on the southbound lanes between Innisfil Beach Rd. and Hwy. 89.

The southbound 400 looked like a wrecking yard. Cars and trucks smashed into each other – scattered across all the lanes.

“Just total white out conditions – I was able to stop just in time but everyone behind just kept ramming in. It was pretty scary,” says Carlo Castellon.

The chain reaction happened quickly, drivers were blinded by the snow. Most say there was no way to avoid it.

“It felt like forever but it was only a matter of ten seconds. I was sitting here bracing myself holding the steering wheel as I heard the cars coming in behind me going bang, bang, bang,” said Rick Clement.

It happened just north of Innisfil Beach Road. The carnage stretching two kilometres along the south bound lanes. The OPP say whiteout conditions and one initial problem caused the huge pile-up.

“We had calls of snow squalls in the area and we had a very serious crash involving six vehicle and that’s when the chain reaction started,” says OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford.

Ninety-six vehicles were involved including a SUV that was crushed in between two tractor trailers. The driver had to be cut out by firefighters and was taken to hospital where he is expected to be okay.

“This driver is very lucky. It looks like they split to avoid the vehicle as much as they could,” added Woodford.

Three people were taken to hospital and are expected to recover from their injuries. Police say it is a miracle no one died.

“We’re lucky we didn’t have a fatality. It was just like an accordion – one after another after another.”

A lot of drivers were treated on scene for things like minor cuts and bumps. The pile-up shut down the 400 in both directions for several hours as emergency responders and about 100 tow trucks cleared away the smashed vehicles.

“We’ve seen a couple but not this bad. It’s a really bad mess lucky a lot of people didn’t get hurt,” says tow truck driver Mario Liotiney.

Highway 400 was fully reopened in both directions by 7 p.m. Thursday evening.