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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Crash kills pair in tow truck
Vehicle runs into tree, then catches fire
JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Enlarge Image
The burned-out shell of the tow truck was barely recognizable and bits of its twisted metal lay under the massive tree.
TWO grief-stricken men had to be restrained by police cadets at the scene of a horrific crash that claimed the lives of two people early Sunday morning.
Police Sgt. Damian Turner said the crash occurred shortly after 3 a.m. when a tow truck went out of control while travelling east on Dugald Road near Plessis Road.
The truck swerved, jumped the median and hit a tree before it caught fire. The tow truck sheered off the tree and its wreckage was spread across the westbound lane.
The impact was so intense, officers at the nearby East District station heard the sound and rushed to the scene within minutes.
"It was a very loud bang," said Const. Natalie Aitken, a spokeswoman with the Winnipeg Police Service.
The victims died at the scene and their bodies could not be immediately removed from the wreckage.
The burned-out shell of the truck was barely recognizable and bits of its twisted metal lay under the massive tree.
Two tires were thrown into a nearby ditch and a Tim Hortons cup, an old football and a piece of tow equipment were strewn across the westbound lanes on Dugald Road.
Early Sunday, police covered the lower portion of the mangled truck with a yellow tarp.
Police said the flames were so hot, aluminum from the vehicle melted onto the asphalt.
Shortly before 11 a.m., two grief-stricken men arrived on scene and a middle-aged man rushed toward the wreckage.
Four police cadets tackled the man to the ground and they had to restrain a younger man.
Police escorted the pair away from the wreckage, where the medical examiner was taking photos beneath the yellow tarp.
Turner said police were not able to identify the bodies Sunday.
About 12:30 p.m., police loaded the mangled wreckage of the white tow truck onto a flatbed truck.
Turner said police will work to determine why a vehicle travelling on a straight stretch of twinned road lost control.
"It's definitely a high-volume intersection and a lot of stuff happens here," he said.
The collision is the second fatal crash on Dugald in a month and comes just days after one person was sent to hospital due to a crash near the intersection.
Last month, a 53-year-old man died after an eastbound truck driven by a 19-year-old veered into the westbound lane of Dugald Road near Goodyear Avenue.
The teen was allegedly texting while driving at the time of the crash.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition October 3, 2011 B1
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