10-year-old boy dead after chain-reaction crash on QEW

A 10-year-old boy from Beamsville has died following a three-vehicle, chain-reaction crash late Thursday afternoon in Niagara Region, police say.

The collision happened at around 5:30 p.m. on the Niagara-bound Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW), just west of Tufford Road, in the town of Lincoln.

In a video posted to social media Friday morning, OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said the driver of a grey vehicle was travelling on the QEW and approached “slowing or stopped traffic.”

“That vehicle, operated by a 31-year-old from Mississauga, collided into the rear of a white SUV being driven by a 44-year-old woman from Beamsville with two 10-year-old brothers in the back seat,” he said, explaining the vehicle was then pushed forward into another white SUV driven by a 37-year-old woman from Milton.

Schmidt said paramedics and firefighters removed one of the boys who was stuck in the back of the white SUV and rushed him to hospital with serious injuries.

That child was pronounced dead at around 9 p.m. last night, he said.

The victim’s 44-year-old mother and her other 10-year-old son, along with the 37-year-old driver and 10-year-old girl in the other white SUV were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

The driver who initially rear-ended the vehicle with the mother and two boys inside was uninjured, Schmidt said.

The QEW was closed for several hours as police worked to piece together exactly what happened and crews cleaned up the mess. The highway has since reopened.

“The roads were dry. The sun was shining. Visibility was clear,” Schmidt said.

“There was some congestion ahead due to likely afternoon rush-hour traffic, but this is certainly a very tragic investigation and our hearts go out to those family members and loved ones of this 10-year-old boy.”

The investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid at this time.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Burlington OPP or Crime Stoppers anonymously.