Passenger of pickup truck trapped following multi-vehicle collision

Members of the Ottawa Fire Services (OFS) safely extricated an occupant of a pickup truck on Thursday following a collision involving five vehicles.

The crash occurred around 4:30 p.m. in Ottawa’s south end on Bank Street, south of Rideau Road. Both Ottawa police and OFS responded.

Firefighters said there appeared to be an initial collision between a pickup truck and a cube van. The van then proceeded northbound and struck three additional vehicles that were parked.

Those parked vehicles were occupied, it is unclear if anyone inside were injured.

Fire crews located one trapped occupant in the front passenger seat of the pickup truck. Since they were unable to exit the vehicle safely, firefighters stabilized the pickup and by using special tools, were able to open a door for the individual to exit through.

Multiple individuals in both the van and the pickup were assessed and treated by OFS on scene.

This wasn’t the only occasion this week where fire crews had to assist a trapped individual following a car crash.

Single-vehicle rollover crash traps driver in rural Ottawa

On Monday, a single vehicle drove off the road and hit a culvert before landing on its side, left one person trapped inside.

There, fire officials were able to remove the person from the vehicle through the rear hatch.

Over 350 people killed on OPP-patrolled roads in 2024

“The vast majority of the 382 road users who died on OPP-patrolled roads in 2024 had their lives cut short because of poor and careless decisions and actions behind the wheel and in passenger seats.”

That is one of the quotes from a provincial police press release that details how people die every year in Ontario because of their own and others’ poor decisions. The statistics were released ahead of Canada Road Safety Week, which continues into this long weekend and is a focus for authorities each year.

Police said that of the 344 fatal collisions, speed was a factor in 95 of them. A further 80 deaths involved a distracted driver, and 53 were linked to drug or alcohol consumption.

With files from CityNews’ Natasha O’Neill.