Update 6 p.m.
OPP say the highway has reopened.
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A New Year's Day tragedy this morning as three people died in a single-vehicle accident on Highway 17 near Sudbury.
OPP say shortly before 9 a.m. a.m., police responded to a single motor vehicle collision in the westbound lanes of Highway 17, near the Highway 144 interchange, in Greater Sudbury.
A preliminary investigation revealed the westbound vehicle left the roadway and struck a rock-cut.
Two passengers were pronounced dead at the scene while a third passenger was rushed to hospital but succumbed to injuries. Two other passengers were taken to hospital, one with non-life threatening injuries and one with serious injuries.
The driver was not injured.
The westbound lanes of Highway 17 are currently closed as of 2:30 p.m. Westbound traffic can detour through Regional Road 55-Lively.
The identities of the dead are being withheld pending next of kin notification.
The investigation is continuing with the assistance of an OPP Collision Reconstructionist and an OPP Technical Collision Investigator.
Members from the Nipissing West Detachment of the OPP along with Sudbury Emergency Medical Services and Greater Sudbury Fire Services responded to the accident scene.
