Police say speed was 'definitely' a factor in a head-on crash that killed one and seriously injured another near the Stockyards on Thursday morning.
Emergency crews were called to the corner of St. Clair Avenue West and Cobalt Avenue at 10:43 a.m. for a report of a crash.
Const. Jen Sidhu said the cars collided head-on at a high rate of speed, near flipping one of the cars over.
They said an eastbound Toyota Camry sideswiped a Mazda before veering into oncoming traffic where it struck a Honda head-on.
The 72-year-old male driver of the Honda was pronounced dead at the scene while female driver of the Toyota was rushed to a Sunnybrook Hospital's trauma centre via ambulance emergency run in serious condition. The driver of the Mazda was not injured.
Initially, the driver of the Toyota was trapped inside the vehicle before they were removed by emergency crews. A witness to the collision says he heard a loud noise and rushed out to help.
"I heard a big noise from the accident and I looked out the window and I saw the (Toyota) Camry was on fire. I grabbed my fire extinguisher from the front door and ran over right away," Walter Kirkhard told CTV Toronto.
"Speed is definitely a factor but now we have to determine if there was any kind of mechanical failure that led up to the collision to cause this, but speed is definitely something we're looking at," Const. Clint Stibbe told CTV Toronto.
"We tried to break the windows and Kenny tried to break the window of the Camry using the fire extinguisher. We tried fives times."
St. Clair Avenue West was closed in both directions between Runnymede Road and Cobalt Avenue until 3:15 p.m. as the traffic reconstruction team probed the scene.
"It's sad, it makes you realize it could happen to anyone," Tony Sabarres, another witnesses to the scene, said. "I drive too, right. People have to be careful out here, especially when it's raining."
Police are asking witnesses to call 416-808-1900.
With files from Janice Golding.
