1 dead, Hwy. 401 westbound closed near Kingston after major pileup

One person is dead and as many as 20 people have been injured in a Sunday afternoon crash on Highway 401 near Kingston, Ont., involving between 30 and 40vehicles.

The crash happened just after 2:30 p.m., forcing Ontario Provincial Police to close the highway's westbound lanes fromJoyceville Road to Highway 15.

In a statement to CBC News, Kingston General Hospital said between15 and 20 people had arrived at the hospital, "most of whom have non-life-threatening injuries."

Frontenac Paramedics, the local paramedic service, later said they had treated 16 people at the scene including three people with life-threatening injuries.

Investigation will take 'some time'

Frontenac OPP Const.Curtis Dick told CBC News that one person had died in thepileup, which involved at least one tractor-trailer. The person's name has not been released as next-of-kin were still being notified.

"We don't know the exact cause of [the pileup] yet. That's going to be a part of the investigation. We do have our traffic collision investigators there's two [who] are going to be here for a period of time," Dick said from the scene of the crash Sunday evening.

"It will take some time for them to go through the scene, given the sheer number of vehicles."

As of 8 p.m. ET, the highway's westbound lanes were still closed. Dick said the lanes would not "realistically" reopen until Monday morning.

Travel advisory in place

Stranded motorists not involved in the collision are being taken to a warming centre at theRideau Heights Community Centre by Kingston Transit buses, police said.

Dick said people whose vehicles had to be towed to clear the scene should contact Frontenac OPP Monday morning to find out where they'd been taken.

The Kingston area is currently under a winter travel advisory, with as much as 15 centimetres of snow expected to fallalong the shores of Lake Ontario by Sunday evening.

There were reports of heavy snow in the area at the time of the crash, said OPP spokesperson Bill Dickson.

Gas leak

Kingston police were also dealing with a gas leak after an afternoon collision at Princessand Macdonnellstreets, a crash that Sgt. Steve Koopman said was also likely weather-related.

Koopman said the leak would probably take several hours to repair.