Thursday, October 9, 2003

Highway 17 through Garden River has been re-opened to traffic in both directions, OPP reported at 7:37 p.m..

The highway was reduced to one lane for several hours after one person, a 63-year-old man, was killed in a single vehicle collision on Garden River First Nation Territory.

Contract to a report on another local website, the deceased is not a resident of Sault Ste. Marie or the surrounding area.

A post mortem will be held on Friday to determine the cause of the man's death.

He was alone in his vehicle at the time of crash, around 4:15 p.m.

The man was rushed to Sault Area Hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Preliminary investigation by the Ontario Provincial Police indicates that the man's car was eastbound on Highway 17 when it crossed into the westbound lane.

It then left the road and hit a pole.

The identity of the deceased man will be not be released until next of kin have been notified.

OPP do not expect to release further information about the crash until after 7 a.m. Friday.

The website that erroneously reported the man was a Saultite also reported a nonexistant fire in the central part of the City tonight.