A man and woman from Saddle Lake were the victims of a fatal vehicle collision in Saddle Lake Cree Nation last night, as two vans, containing several children, were heading home from trick-or-treating in St. Paul.
A man and woman from Saddle Lake were the victims of a fatal vehicle collision in Saddle Lake Cree Nation last night, as two vans, containing several children, were heading home from trick-or-treating in St. Paul.
Police responded to the incident at about 8:30 p.m., in which a van with six occupants was heading south on the Northsouth road, when it crossed into the path of a northbound van with 10 occupants.
"Both of them were coming back from St. Paul; they had been trick-or-treating in St. Paul," said Cpl. Ronald Bumbry, adding that it had been snowing at the time, and slippery road conditions had been reported.
Several occupants from both vehicles were transported to surrounding hospitals with various serious, but non life-threatening injuries, with 10 of the occupants under the age of 18, as well as two infants, aged one and two, among those injured.
A 42-year-old man and a 43-year-old female, who were the occupants of the northbound van, were pronounced dead at the scene.
Traffic on the road was detoured for several hours while an RCMP collision analyst investigated the incident, according to an RCMP press release, and all potential contributing factors, including weather and road conditions, are under investigation.
“Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and the community of Saddle Lake Cree Nation that have been affected by this tragic incident,&” states the release from St. Paul RCMP, with Bumbry adding that Victim Services has been in contact to support those affected, as well as the family of the deceased.
