1 dead, 3 in hospital after flying wheel crashes into bus windshield on QEW

A man is dead and three others are in hospital after a flying wheel crashed into a coach bus on the QEW in St. Catharines Friday afternoon.

It happened on the Toronto-bound lanes of the highway on the descending side of the Garden City Skyway bridge shortly after 3:30 p.m.

Ontario Provincial Police said a van was travelling on the Toronto-bound lanes when one of its wheels came off.

The wheel, police said, hit a pickup truck in the opposite lane before smashing through the windshield of the Toronto-bound bus. Images from Chopper24 show a tour bus with its windshield shattered and a minivan with a missing front wheel.

A 48-year-old bus passenger from Toronto was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Three other passengers were transported to local area hospitals with serious injuries.

It is unclear how many passengers were on the bus during the incident.

All Toronto-bound lanes of the QEW at Glendale Avenue have been closed for hours due to the collision. Police said the highway was expected to reopen by 11 p.m.