Indian couple killed in crash during Canada cop chase were from Tamil Nadu

The Indian diplomatic mission in Toronto has identified an Indian couple who died in a crash with their grandchild during a multi-vehicle collision when Canadian police pursued a liquor store robbery suspect driving the wrong way earlier this week.

“Heartfelt condolences on tragic loss of Indian nationals Mr. Manivannan, Mrs. Mahalakshmi and their grandchild in the Highway 401 collision,” the Consulate General of India in Toronto posted on X on Friday.

The consulate general “met the bereaved family at the hospital & assured all possible assistance. We are in touch with Canadian authorities”, the post said.

The couple, probably from Tamil Nadu, was on a visit to Canada. The couple’s three-month-old grandson also died in the multi-vehicle collision. Highway 401 was closed for several hours after the incident on Monday, Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit (SIU) said on Thursday.

The 21-year-old robbery suspect was also killed in the collision, which involved at least six vehicles, CBC News earlier reported.

All four people were pronounced dead at the scene on Highway 401 in Whitby, about 50 km east of Toronto.

The SIU had earlier said that two of the victims, a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman, were visiting from India. It, however, had not released the names of the victims.

The agency said that the parents of the infant, his 33-year-old father and 27-year-old mother, were travelling in the same vehicle and were taken to hospital.

The mother’s injuries are serious, the SIU said.

Officials have said the deadly car chase started with a liquor store robbery in Bowmanville and ended around 20 minutes later after the suspect in a cargo van led Durham police on a high-speed chase against opposing traffic on Highway 401.

A 38-year-old male passenger from the cargo van was also taken to the hospital to be treated for serious injuries.