(Photo: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov)

 

One of three people killed in a fiery pileup on a highway north of Toronto is being identified by relatives as a veteran truck driver and father of nine.

Nikiyah Mulak-Dunn says her husband Benjamin Dunn was a selfless and hardworking man who loved his family more than anything else.

She says her husband, who was the North Bay family’s sole breadwinner, had been working as a trucker for at least a decade and drove that same route regularly.

Mulak-Dunn says he also juggled two other jobs as a miner and a welder.

Police have not publicly identified those killed Tuesday night in a multi-vehicle crash on Highway 400 that set off a massive fireball and sent drivers running for their lives.

That stretch of highway south of Barrie, Ont., was closed for more than 24 hours after the crash, which police have said involved at least four transport trucks and two fuel tankers that spilled thousands of litres of fuel on the road.

Police said the impact sent a wave of fuel and flames rushing down the highway.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation but police suggested the blame may lie with the driver of a transport truck they say crashed into slowing traffic.

(The Canadian Press)