Two adults and three children are in critical condition today following a serious collision between a transport truck and a passenger vehicle on a major highway southwest of Montreal.

Quebec provincial police say emergency services were called to the accident on Highway 20 in St-Zotique, Que., about six kilometres from the Ontario border, shortly before 11 a.m.

Police spokeswoman Sgt. Catherine Bernard says that it appears the truck driver was not able to stop in time as traffic slowed and struck a sport utility vehicle.

She says the five people in the SUV were taken to hospital and their lives remain in danger.

Bernard says a collision investigator is being dispatched to the scene.

The highway—which continues as Highway 401 on the other side of the Ontario border—remains closed to westbound traffic.