Two girls on their way home from a youth group trip to laser tag were killed Wednesday night in a head-on crash outside Caledonia.
The girls, aged 14 and 12, were among eight people in a van that was returning from Hamilton to Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation.
Around 9 p.m., they were about five kilometres south of Caledonia on Highway 6 when they crashed into a car that was headed in the opposite direction and had crossed into their path.
The crash sent the van into the ditch, where it rolled over.
The girls were killed, as was the 21-year-old Six Nations man driving the car. The other six people in the van were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
“We’ve suffered a tragic event in our community,” New Credit Chief Stacey Laforme said Thursday.
Classes were cancelled at New Credit’s school on Thursday. Laforme said that could happen on Friday as well.
The reserve’s community centre was opened up for anybody who wanted a place to sit and talk, with counsellors and elders on hand.
“We are trying to support each other,” Laforme said.
“It’s not just the families. The families are in our hearts, but this is the whole nation (affected).”
Thursday afternoon, police identified the girls as 12-yaer-old Grace King and 14-year-old Waagosh Secord. The Six Nations man driving the car was identified as Wyatt Martin.
Police are looking at everything from road conditions to seatbelts as they investigate the collision – a task made more difficult by the knowledge of how it is affecting people in New Credit, Six Nations and Caledonia.
“We’re all sons and daughters and moms and dads. Something like this is … very tough to deal with,” OPP Const. Rod Leclair told reporters.
“No matter how much training we have, nothing really prepares you for this.”
A second van, which was following the first back to New Credit from the laser tag outing, was not involved in the collision.
With reporting by Max Wark
