Witnesses rushed out of their vehicles to try to rescue a male who died in a fiery crash in the Don Valley Parkway's southbound lanes late Thursday morning.
The male victim was trapped in the burning vehicle and was pronounced dead at the scene, near the Gerrard Street bridge, after the fire was extinguished.
Toronto police blocked the DVP in both directions, but it was reopened around 4:45 p.m.
SUV was on fire while airborne: witness
Witnesses told CP24's Cam Woolley the BMW was speeding when its front end rode up onto the concrete median in the centre of the road and struck the concrete support column of pedestrian bridge just north of Gerrard Street, causing the vehicle to flip.
Jeff Hutcheson, weather anchor for CTV's Canada AM, said the sport utility vehicle was in flames when it became airborne in the middle of the road.
"It was flipped very high in the air and fire was already coming out of the bottom," said Hutcheson, who watched the incident unfold in his rear-view mirror. "It shocked me so much I had to pull over and reset myself."
'Total inferno'
Hutcheson said the BMW then careened towards the edge of the road, slammed into the guardrail and exploded upon impact.
"It was a total inferno instantly upon impact," Hutcheson told CP24.
One person was inside the vehicle, and passersby who pulled over were unable to rescue the male occupant because the fire was so intense.
Other witnesses said pieces of the vehicle broke off and were hurled several metres when the BMW struck the guardrail and came to rest on the shoulder at about 11:20 a.m.
One woman told CP24 she was standing on the footbridge when she was almost struck by debris that was sent flying into the air.
Police said high speed is being eyed as a contributing factor in the crash, but it hasn't been confirmed.
