Indian consulate general IDs grandparents who died in 401 crash

The Indian Consulate General has identified grandparents who died in a crash with their grandchild following a police chase of a robbery suspect who went the wrong way on Highway 401 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 wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday evening.

The consulate general said officials met surviving family members at the hospital and assured them they will assist them in every possible way.

"We are in touch with Canadian authorities," the consulate general said.

The crash, which killed four people and seriously injured two people, happened in in Whitby, about 50 kilometres east of Toronto, on Monday night.

According to Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU), the grandparents — a 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman — were visiting from India. They and their grandson, three months, all died at the scene.

The infant's parents, a 33-year-old father and 27-year-old mother, were also injured in the crash, the SIU said. The parents, who are residents of Ajax, Ont., were in the same car as the grandparents and the baby, according to the SIU.

The collision followed a police chase that began with an alleged liquor store robbery in Bowmanville, Ont., in the regional municipality of Clarington. Police pursued the suspect as he drove the wrong way on Highway 401.

That chase ended in a fatal collision that involved at least six vehicles, according to the SIU. The robbery suspect was also killed.