Provincial police have confirmed four of the five people who died earlier this week in a crash outside Thunder Bay are from Waterloo region.

Officials say the men were killed when a pickup truck collided with a commercial tractor trailer late Saturday night.

The crash happened on Highway 17, about 15 km east of English River.

The driver of the tractor trailer has been identified as 43-year-old Sukhwinder Thandi of Cambridge.

The men in the pickup truck have been identified as 42-year-old Kyle Prince of Waterloo, 44-year-old James Jackson of Fort Erie, 26-year-old Brady Ostell and his brother, 27-year old Andrew Ostell, both from Kitchener.

Thandi's wife, Bhawna, tells CTV News that Sukhwinder was on his way home from Edmonton at the time of the crash. The long-time truck driver was on a cross-country delivery.

Bhawna spoke with her husband about an hour and a half before the collision.

"[He asked] 'How are the kids doing?' 'How was their school this morning?' Small, small things he asked me," she says.

Sukhwinder was the father of two boys, aged 18 and 16.

He moved to Canada when he was just eight years old, and lived in Cambridge ever since.

"He was a very good man," says Bhawna. "He was a pure hearted man. All the time, [he was] eager to help everybody."

The deadly crash has some truck drivers voicing concerns about the safety of Highway 17.

The stretch of road between North Bay and Winnipeg has just one lane in each direction, and no shoulders to pull onto.

"Until Winnipeg, [it's a] straight line," says Jasbir Singh Cheema, who has worked as a truck driver for more than 20 years. "When you cross into Winnipeg, then it's four lanes, it's easier. They have an edge, and space on the road on both sides."

For the Thandis, Sukhvinder's tragic death is still sinking in.

"His last breath [was] when he was working for his family," says Bhawna.

An investigation into the crash continues.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Thunder Bay OPP at 807-939-2133 or 1-888-310-1122.

With files from The Canadian Press.