Just about 12 hours after an accident killed an Oakville man and injured four other people, traffic in the Hwy. 427-Queen Elizabeth Way-Gardiner Expressway area is once again moving smoothly.

After closing off Toronto-bound QEW traffic at Evans Ave. and Hwy. 427 southbound traffic at the QEW westbound ramp for most of the day, police reopened everything just after 6 o'clock this evening.

"I haven't seen much worse than this," said OPP Const. Dave Woodford earlier today.

Just before 6:30 a.m. a transport truck carrying copper tubing was travelling on the Hwy. 427 southbound ramp when the trailer portion detached from the truck and plunged over the guardrail and onto the eastbound QEW, crushing four cars.

Police say two cars were hit by debris.

Woodford described the car that suffered the most damage as "literally cut in half."

A 53-year-old man from Oakville was airlifted to St. Michael's Hospital with critical injuries and later died.

The driver of the truck, a man from London, suffered a broken jaw and was taken to Trillium Hospital.

Three others, including an 18-year-old woman, suffered minor injuries.

Mariano Estrela was travelling into Toronto this morning when he saw the trailer plunge from the ramp. "I see the trailer fly from the bridge...I closed my eyes."

The 62-year-old, who works for Hank Deenen Landscaping, was on his way to a job when copper tubing landed on the hood of his truck.

"At this time I think I am dead - now I'm alive."

Estrela needed help getting out of his truck, but was not seriously injured.

An OPP reconstruction team was on site most of the day, trying to determine what caused the accident. They will be looking at speed, the mechanics of the truck, the driver's record and fatigue.

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With files from Jesse McLean