Four men were ejected from a minivan Sunday morning when their vehicle crossed four lanes of traffic, rolled over and caught fire.
Emergency workers arriving at the Highway 401 collision found a minivan on its roof and four men lying on the highway and the nearby grassy median.
The van was carrying seven men in their late teens and early twenties. Only three were wearing seatbelts. Five of the passengers were sent to hospital, two with life-threatening injuries. The driver was not hurt.
The victims were thrown from the van just after midnight when the driver lost control on the highway near Avenue Road. The eastbound vehicle began in the left lane, crossing four lanes of traffic before hitting the steel guard rail on the right. It then rolled over, caught fire and bounced back across the same four lanes.
One witness told CTV Toronto he saw the van tilt while it was changing lanes.
"There wasn't a big gap to change lanes," he said. "I thought it would be a miracle to save these guys once I saw the car tilt."
An Armed Forces medic who was passing by stopped to extinguish the fire and help free the men trapped inside the car.
Police say the group was coming home from dinner at a restaurant but drinking did not play a role in the accident.
"We do know speed was a factor," OPP Const. Dave Woodford told CTV News.
Police estimate the 20-year-old driver was going about 140 km/h. He was arrested at the scene.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Matet Nebres
