A 42-year-old female prisoner has died in Kenora, Ont., after the police cruiser she was being transported in collided with a tractor-trailer early this morning.

Ontario Provincial Police officers were transporting the woman to the Kenora detachment when the collision happened at 2 a.m. ET Sunday at the junction of Highway 17A and Highway 658.

Highway 17A, Kenora, Ont.

The woman was killed in the collision, while the two officers in the marked cruiser were taken to hospital and later released, OPP said in a release.

The driver of the tractor-trailer was not hurt.

Both vehicles were still at the scene on Sunday afternoon, with the tractor-trailer showing damage to its front end. The police cruiser — a sport-utility vehicle — had its airbags deployed, the CBC's Megan Benedictson reported from Kenora.

Highway 17A, also known as the Kenora Bypass, remains closed at Highway 658 as of Sunday afternoon. The bypass runs just north of the city.

OPP say they expect the section of road to be closed for a while.

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit (SIU) says it has three investigators, two forensic investigators and one collision reconstructionist assigned to the crash.

The SIU is an independent watchdog that investigates incidents involving police in which serious injury or death occur, or when allegations of sexual assault are raised.