Filipino trucker killed, woman critically injured in Canada crash

Roderick “Erick” Alcala, a 48-year-old Filipino truck driver from Barrie, Ontario, was killed in a three-vehicle crash on the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in Niagara Falls on November 4, 2026.

In a Facebook post, Beethoven Crasco, a friend and former co-worker, recalled learning of Alcala’s death two days after the crash. Around 5 a.m. on Friday, November 6, he received a message from Alcala’s wife, Mary Grace, telling him that Erick was gone.

“My heart is heavy,” Crasco wrote in the tribute. He remembered Alcala as a friend, a former colleague and a financial services client. Crasco is listed as president and director of the Filipino-Canadian Association of Barrie and Suburban Areas.

Ontario Provincial Police said the collision occurred around 2:30 p.m. between Thorold Stone Road and Mountain Road and involved a tractor-trailer and two passenger vehicles. Police described the truck driver who died as a 48-year-old man from Barrie.

A woman driving one of the passenger vehicles suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a hospital. OPP Sgt. Kerry Schmidt said she remained hospitalized the following afternoon. CHCH News reported that the third vehicle struck debris and that its driver was uninjured.

The crash closed the QEW in both directions. Niagara police helped manage the overnight closures as investigators examined the scene and crews cleared the wreckage. The highway reopened Thursday morning after crews removed the vehicles and repaired the guardrail.

As of November 9, the investigation was ongoing and no charges had been laid.