Exact cause of fatal 401 accident may never be known

The Ontario Provincial Police have released the details of their ongoing investigation into last week's fatal Highway 401 accident near Windsor, Ont.

Eighty vehicles were involved in the crash and seven people were killed. The seven have all been identified. Four of them were from southwestern Ontario. The other three were from Rochester, New York.

There are still many unanswered questions. Inspector Bill Dennis says police believe a thick blanket of fog caused the accident. But it may never be known exactly what happened partly because fire from burning transport trucks melted away skid marks and other important pieces of evidence.

Constable Kevin Armstrong is leading the investigation. He says there would have been many more fatalities if people at the accident site hadn't acted so quickly.

"Whether it be yelling, 'Get out of your car', or physically going in to drag people out and move vehicles, a lot of people gave of themselves and took lots of risks to keep this number from being a lot higher than it really should have been."

Dawn Ricker is with Victims' Services in the Windsor area. She says they've spoken with almost 40 survivors, witnesses, and families whose lives have been affected by this accident. She says they're looking for answers to some difficult questions. "There are so many emotions that go through the families of these victims. And they're just trying to process them. "

So far, police have spoken with 69 people who were involved in the accident. There are still more people to talk to, as police try to piece together exactly how the crash happened.