Significant damage after transport drives into building in Listowel, Ont.
It’s not the way anyone in Listowel, Ont. planned on starting their morning, after a tractor trailer careened off Main Street, jumped the sidewalk, and plowed into the storefronts of a number of downtown businesses.
“Definitely an eye-opener for a Friday morning, an interesting way to start the weekend,” says Brendan Hall, store manager at Corley’s Sports, one of the businesses damaged.
Emergency crews were called to the scene of the downtown crash shortly before 8 a.m. to find part of the passenger side of the tractor trailer cab firmly embedded into the front doors of Diana Sweets Restaurant, in the heart of Listowel’s downtown.
“Luckily for us, Corley’s Sports, we didn’t have much damage. I’m really feeling for Diana Sweets and the Clothing Loft, hopefully they can come out of this OK,” says Hall.
Three residents living above the damaged storefronts were displaced by the crash.
The tractor trailer driver suffered non-life threatening injuries and was treated in hospital.
Police officials say they’re still trying to piece together exactly what led the tractor trailer to end up inside Listowel’s downtown.
“Luckily there were no other people involved. No pedestrians on the sidewalk that were impacted at the time. The mornings can be a busy time in Listowel, with kids on their way to school and other individuals here, so we are fortunate that no other vehicles or people were involved,” says Const. Jillian Johnson of the Perth County OPP.
CTV News London did speak to the owner of the trucking company involved.
The owner says the driver told him he wasn’t feeling well before the crash and passed out, waking up after he hit the building.
The owner added that the driver thinks he had a seizure, however emergency officials would not confirm details about the cause of the crash or state of the driver. An investigation is ongoing.
By mid-afternoon a tow truck had arrived to carefully remove the tractor trailer from the storefronts.
It’s not immediately clear how long the damaged businesses will remain closed, or the residents above the stores displaced. It could be days or possibly even weeks.
“It’s tough to say. They’re checking the structural integrity of the buildings, but for the time being, we’re probably going to be shut down for a bit, just with the damage alone,” says Hall.
The crash closed Listowel's Main Street for much of the day between Wallace Avenue and Livingston Avenue.
#PerthOPP, @NorthPerthFire, and #PerthEMS currently on scene of a collision on Main St W, Listowel. Road is closed between Wallace Ave and Livingston Ave. Please avoid the area.@NorthPerth1 @PerthCounty
— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) January 21, 2022
^jj pic.twitter.com/vfJ500lB7M
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Liberal MP says she's leaving politics over disrespectful dialogue, threats, misogyny
Liberal MP Pam Damoff says she won't run again in the next federal election, saying she has experienced misogyny, disrespectful dialogue in politics and threats to her life.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.