Four teens killed in Gilbert Plains crash

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This article was published 30/03/2023 (915 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A rural Manitoba community is reeling after four teenagers were killed in a car crash Wednesday night.

“I can’t even come close to imagining what these parents are going through, and what the surrounding communities are, as well. Our condolences go out to the families and the communities. This is a huge loss… People are going to be devastated across the province,” RCMP spokesperson Tara Seel said by phone Thursday.

According to police reports, five people were in a car headed north on Provincial Road 274 into Gilbert Plains, when the driver failed to stop at the stop sign at the intersection with Highway 5. The car struck the trailer portion of a semi-trailer travelling eastbound on Highway 5 at about 10:50 p.m., RCMP said.

Three males — the 18-year-old driver of the car and two 17-year-old passengers — were pronounced dead at the scene. All were from the Dauphin area.

An 18-year-old woman from Carberry was transported to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

A 15-year-old girl from the Rural Municipality of Dauphin was transported to hospital with serious injuries.

The official Twitter account for the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service (STARS) foundation announced an air ambulance was dispatched to the Gilbert Plains area from Winnipeg around 12:47 a.m.

The 30-year-old male driver of the semi, a Saskatoon resident, was not injured in the crash, RCMP said.

Police have not revealed the victims’ identities.

The investigation into what caused the crash is ongoing, and RCMP do not have a timeline for when it will be complete, Seel said.

She could not comment on whether drugs or alcohol were involved in the collision.

Police notified the families of all victims involved in the accident and do not believe any of the victims were related, Seel added.

Stephen Jaddock, superintendent of Mountain View School Division, confirmed two of the victims were students at Gilbert Plains Collegiate Institute, while the third victim and the lone survivor studied at Dauphin Regional Comprehensive Secondary School.

The fourth victim was a student from a different school division, he said.

Some of the teens were preparing for their upcoming graduations and looking ahead to their lives outside of school, Jaddock said, speaking by phone.

“We’ve never had anything quite like this, where there are multiple deaths at the same time,” he said. “The ties to young people and communities run deep, and I know that these youth… were involved with things outside of school and inside of school. They touched many people.”

Mountain View officials opened Gilbert Plains Collegiate on Thursday, amid the provincial spring break, to allow community members a place to gather. The school was to remain open Friday, as will MacKenzie Middle School in Dauphin.

Crisis workers will be on site to support people in mourning and will continue to meet with students when classes resume next week. The school division may host a vigil honouring the teens, but plans have not been established yet, Jaddock said.

A Gilbert Plains resident who lives near the crash site said he was home when the collision happened.

“I did not hear a thing last night. It’s bizarre,” he said, speaking by phone. “The community is reeling. It’s pretty tough.”

He learned of the tragedy from friends in the community, and did not know any of the victims, the man said.

By Thursday afternoon, the collision had been cleared from the roadway. “It’s all cleared. You would never know,” the area resident said.

Manitoba Public Insurance data shows two other collisions occurred at that intersection between 2019 and 2022.

MPI spokeswoman Kristy Rydz was unable to comment on whether either of the previous crashes involved fatalities. “Because of the low number of collisions at this intersection, MPI cannot release further details,” she wrote in an email.

On Thursday, the Municipality of Gilbert Plains posted a message of condolence on its website, saying council members want to express their “profound sadness as we learn about the tragic car accident that claimed the lives of young members of our community.”

The message was signed by Reeve Jim Manchur and councillors.

“We are thinking about the families and friends of these young people and the entire grieving community. Council also extends a thank-you to emergency personnel and understand that they will need support to deal with responding to this tragedy.”

Seel said first responders are also grappling with the loss.

“This is not about us, but it certainly is a hard thing for the police officers who had to respond to the collision… This is far-reaching.”

tyler.searle@freepress.mb.ca