5 students from India killed in Highway 401 crash

Five students from India have been identified as the people killed in a two-vehicle crash Saturday morning on Highway 401 west of Belleville, Ont.

Police were alerted about the crash between a tractor-trailer and passenger van in the highway's westbound lanes at approximately 3:45 a.m., according to the Ontario Provincial Police's Quinte West detachment.

Five people, all of whom were riding in the van, were declared dead at the scene.

On Sunday, OPP identified the victims as Harpreet Singh, 24, Jaspinder Singh, 21, Karanpal Singh, 22, Mohit Chouhan, 23, and Pawan Kumar, 23.

All five had been studying in Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area, police said.

Two other passengers in the van were transported to hospital with serious injuries. The driver of the tractor-trailer was uninjured. 

An investigation is underway but no charges have been laid. While the highway's westbound lanes were closed for several hours, it has since reopened.