ATIKOKAN, Ont. -- Two drivers involved in a head-on highway crash had to be airlifted to a hospital in Thunder Bay Friday.
Officials with the OPP’s Rainy River detachment say the crash on Highway 11 took place 10 kilometres west of the Highway 11B intersection, which turns off toward Atikokan.
Investigators say an eastbound vehicle being driven by a 49-year-old man from Fort Frances crossed the centre line of the road and struck a westbound vehicle occupied by two women from Atikokan.
The crash left one vehicle partially blocking the highway; the other vehicle had rolled down an embankment into the ditch where it caught fire.
Everyone involved in the crash reported sustaining injuries.
The woman driving the westbound vehicle managed to free herself and helped her passenger escape the burning vehicle.
Police say three men from Thunder Bay helped the women up to the roadway just moments before the vehicle exploded.
The Thunder Bay men then helped other injured driver.
Both drivers were airlifted to Thunder Bay and are said to have sustained serious injuries.