Three people were rushed to hospital following a major crash on the eastbound side of Highway 40 early Thursday morning.
It all began shortly before 3:30 A.M. with a tractor trailer crashing through a Cherry Picker truck being used to keep Transport Quebec workers safe.
"The driver of the tractor trailer hit this protection vehicle, which led to a chain reaction hitting a pickup truck just in front of it," said provincial police spokesperson Daniel Thibodeau "There was a worker who was placing cones in the back of the pickup truck and he was thrown from it after the impact."
That man landed on the highway, right in the path of the tractor trailer, which at this point had caught fire. Incredibly, one of the other members of the road crew team was able to help his co-worker.
"He was stuck just under the truck, but his partner [pulled him out from under] the truck," fire Chief Benoit Martel. "His partner [suffered] second degree burns too."
Both men were taken to hospital, along with a third. While the worker in the back of the pickup did suffer serious injuries his condition was upgraded to stable over the course of the morning.
Firefighters and emergency responders arrived at the scene shortly after. The eastbound service road was closed so firefighters could use the fire hydrants to extinguish the blaze.
The exact cause of the crash has not been determined. The Sûreté du Québec said all possibilities are being looked at, but right now fatigue may be at the heart of it all.
"At this point one of the hypotheses is that he may have fallen asleep at the wheel," said Thibodeau.
The SQ could not give an exact time as to when the highway would reopen.
- Alyssia Rubertucci contributed to this report