Six people were hospitalized, including two in critical condition, after a wrong-way vehicle collided head-on with another car on Autoroute 50 in Gatineau, Quebec, late Wednesday night.
The collision was reported at about 11:30 p.m. on September 16 in the Hull sector, near Montcalm Street and Boulevard des Allumettières. Radio-Canada placed the scene around kilometre 134 of the highway.
According to the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the first vehicle was travelling in the wrong direction before striking a second vehicle carrying five people. The crash triggered a major emergency response and kept part of the highway closed for several hours.
Collision frontale sur l’A-50 à Gatineau: six blessés, dont deux reposent dans un état critique https://t.co/B1AhroYE36
— TVA Nouvelles (@tvanouvelles) September 17, 2026
Two rear-seat passengers remain critically injured
The most seriously injured people were two passengers seated in the rear of the second vehicle. Both were reported to be in critical condition following the collision.
The other three occupants of that vehicle suffered significant injuries, but police said their lives were not believed to be in danger.
The woman driving the wrong-way vehicle was also seriously injured. Her injuries were described as non-life-threatening. All six people involved were transported to hospital.
Initial report of a death was corrected
Early information about the crash included an incorrect report that one person had died. Radio-Canada later issued a correction after the SQ clarified Thursday morning that there were several serious injuries but no confirmed deaths.
The correction is important for anyone who may have seen earlier reports circulating after the collision. The confirmed toll remains six injured, with two people in critical condition.
Police investigate how the vehicle entered the wrong way
Investigators are working to establish how the first vehicle came to be travelling against traffic on Autoroute 50 and the sequence of events immediately before the head-on impact.
SQ spokesperson Marc Tessier said alcohol was not believed to be a factor based on the information available Thursday morning. Police have not announced another confirmed cause.
There is currently no official finding linking the collision to speed, distraction, fatigue or a medical issue. Those possibilities should not be treated as established unless investigators release additional evidence.
A separate wrong-way collision on Highway 401 in Pickering earlier this year also required investigators to determine how a vehicle came to travel against highway traffic. The circumstances of that case were separate from the Gatineau crash.
Autoroute 50 reopened Thursday morning
Highway 50 remained closed for several hours while paramedics treated the injured, damaged vehicles were removed and police examined the scene.
The affected section reopened at approximately 6:30 a.m. Thursday. Motorists looking for current restrictions, construction or traffic conditions along the corridor can check the official Québec 511 Autoroute 50 road information page.
Another recent head-on crash on Route 155 in Grandes-Piles also led Quebec provincial police to investigate why a vehicle crossed into opposing traffic. Each collision has its own circumstances, and investigators have not linked the two incidents.
Investigation remains active in Gatineau
The key unanswered question is how the wrong-way vehicle entered or continued along Autoroute 50 against normal traffic before the collision.
Police had not publicly identified the injured people or announced a final cause in the latest information available Thursday. Authorities were continuing their investigation while two occupants remained in critical condition.
For readers following earlier versions of the story, the important correction remains that no death has been confirmed. The highway has reopened, but further police findings could clarify the circumstances that led to the late-night crash.
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