A woman and her two sons are dead following Wednesday afternoon’s head-on crash east of Shelburne.
Police say all three were killed when the Honda Accord they were in collided with a dump truck at around 3:40 p.m. on Highway 89, east of Highway 10.
OPP Constable Paul Nancekivell says the mother and her three-year-old son were pronounced dead on the scene.
“The ambulance worked on the three year old in the car but he succumbed to his injuries, they then turned their focus to the 6 year old boy,” Nancekivell says. “They got him the ambulance and got him to the hospital as fast as they could unfortunately he succumbed to his injuries because they were severe.”
Dufferin County OPP identified the victims in the crash as Tina Andersen, 43, and her sons Benjamin Parkinson, 3, and Gunner Parkinson, 6, from Orangeville.
The crash happened just east of Primrose near the top of a long hill in an 80 km/h zone. The road is two lanes wide with guard posts on both sides.
Police say the Honda Accord was westbound when it crossed the centre line and slammed into the dump truck in the eastbound lane.
The impact of the crash crushed the Honda and ripped the front axle off the dump truck. The driver of the truck was transported to hospital for shock and has since been released.
The OPP's Technical Traffic Collision investigators spent several hours on scene looking into the cause of the crashand why the Honda crossed the centre line but they may get some clues when they download the data from the cars computer which records speed and breaking information.
“There could be many reasons why the Honda was in the wrong lane at the wrong time and investigators will do their best to find the facts that led to this tragedy,” says Nancekivell. “This is a horrific accident, probably the worst accident I have seen in 28 years of policing, it’s something you don't see every day, you go home after one these and you give your kids a big hug.”
Highway 89 between Highway 10 and the 1st Line was reopened at 3 a.m. Thursday.
