Multiple fatalities were reported in a fiery multi-vehicle crash Friday night on Highway 400 in north Toronto.

Ontario Provincial Police Sgt. Kerry Schmidt says four people were killed and that one of the victims was a child.

Schmidt said the crash happened in the highway’s southbound lanes shortly before 10 p.m. ET and involved three transport trucks along with several other vehicles, some of which sustained massive damage.

“These vehicles are completely unrecognizable,” he said. “I think this is one of the most incredible scenes I’ve ever been to in terms of the number of fatalities and just the trauma that’s been sustained and the way these vehicles ended up.”

Schmidt said one of the truck trailers and several vehicles were gutted by a fire that was ignited by the crash.

The southbound lanes of Highway 400 were reopened to traffic around 3:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, more than 17 hours after the crash.

Courtesey OPP / Kerry Schmidt

An OPP news release issued early Saturday confirmed that a total of 12 vehicles were involved in the pileup, and it said the identities of those killed were being withheld pending notification of their next of kin.

Along with the fatalities, the release said that two people were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, while several others sustained minor injuries and remained at the scene.

There was no early word on a possible cause for the horrific accident, though Schmidt noted the weather and road conditions were both good, and there was no highway construction underway at the crash site.