Dryden – On January 13, 2018, at approximately 5:30 pm officers from the Dryden Detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a multi-vehicle collision on Highway 17, Machin Township; west of Vermillion Bay.
An eastbound motor vehicle, an SUV car, lost control and collided with a westbound Commercial Motor Vehicle (tractor-trailer unit). Dryden & Kenora Ambulance and Machin Fire Department attended the scene to assist the occupants of the vehicles.
The driver and front passenger of the eastbound SUV car died as a result of the collision and the other 3 passengers in the back of the SUV vehicle were transported to the hospital for treatment and later airlifted by ORNGE air ambulance to Winnipeg for further treatment. The deceased has been identified as Dustin McLAUGHLIN (31-years of age) of Portage La Prairie, MB and Cheyanne McLAUGHLIN (13 years of age) of Nipigon, ON. The occupant of the tractor-trailer unit was uninjured.
The Technical Traffic Collision Investigation (TTCI) unit attended the scene to conduct their investigation.
Highway 17 was closed completely for approximately 9 hours.
The highway between Vermillion Bay and Kenora is one of the more dangerous stretches of highway in Ontario. There are numerous accidents on that stretch of highway every year.
