Millions in Canadian coins strewn across highway after crash

Millions of dollars in Canadian coins were scattered across an Ontario highway when a security truck hit rocks and toppled over Wednesday, leaving two people with life-threatening injuries, police said.

The Brinks vehicle struck an outcropping at about 4:00am local time near Ramore, Ontario, 395 miles northwest of the capital, Ottawa, triggering a chain of collisions involving two oncoming trucks and a minivan.

The two people in the Brinks truck were taken to nearby hospitals with "life-threatening injuries," South Porcupine Ontario Provincial Police Constable Marc Depatie told AFP, adding that no one else was injured.

Police and Brinks staff, meanwhile, arrived at the crash site to secure the cargo, which was "strewn about the entire scene" and estimated to be worth between C$3.5 million ($3.5 million) and C$5 million, Depatie said.

"Some of the cargo, the Loonies and Toonies (one and two dollar coins), were dispersed up to and including the tree line of the highway," he said. "It's a rather significant debris field."

A private contractor will use magnets to recover as much of the cargo as possible. "It will be an onerous task," Depatie said from the crash scene.