Five children were killed in a collision between two vehicles on a rural road near the city of Guelph, in southern Ontario, the Ontario Provincial Police confirmed. Officials described the crash as an unimaginable loss as they began the difficult work of piecing together what had happened on a quiet country route.
Police said all of those who died were related to one another, members of the same family. The children killed were four girls and one boy, and they ranged in age from just four years old to twelve, a span that underscored how young all of the victims were.
According to the early account given by investigators, ten people had been travelling together in a van, while a single person was at the wheel of a sport utility vehicle. The two vehicles collided, and the force of the impact proved devastating for those inside.
Beyond the five children who lost their lives, five adults and one infant remained in hospital with serious injuries. The number of people hurt in a single crash left emergency responders and the surrounding community deeply shaken.
The collision took place on a rural country road in the area near Mapleton. The mayor of Mapleton said the stretch of road carries a speed limit of eighty kilometres per hour, typical of the quiet rural routes that run through the region.
Provincial police said the investigation was still in its early stages. Officers were working to determine the full circumstances of the crash, including how the van and the sport utility vehicle came to collide on the road.