Bayham man dead in 401 truck crash

Jacob Wall, 49, of the Vienna area died on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 22 after the transport truck he was driving crashed into a concrete pillar at the Furnival Road overpass bridge near Rodney while travelling westbound on Highway 401.

Elgin County Ontario Provincial Police Constable Troy Carlson said the crash happened at about 4 p.m.

The tractor trailer was hauling a load of car parts when it travelled into the centre medium and collided with the concrete pillar.

Const. Carlson said the truck was completely destroyed in the collision.

“Diesel fuel from the tractor trailer’s ruptured fuel tanks spilled onto both the westbound and eastbound lanes of Highway 401,” he said. “The bridge pillar, which had been struck, appeared to have only minor damage and will be examined more closely once the vehicle is removed from the scene.”

Mr. Wall was pronounced dead at the scene.

OPP Technical Traffic Collision investigators were still working towards determining a cause for the crash.

Traffic was re-routed off of Highway 401 via the Emergency Detour Routes (EDR).

Westbound Highway 401 traffic was diverted off of Highway 401 at Graham Road and eastbound traffic was diverted at Orford Road.

Highway 401 in the area remained closed for over six hours for the investigation and clean up.