Halifax police are calling the deaths of two teenage girls who were struck by a train in Lantz, Nova Scotia — just 40 minutes outside Halifax — Friday morning “very, very tragic.”
RCMP say they were called to an intersection at Mader Street and Highway 2 in Lantz at about 1:40 a.m A.T. Friday.
They confirmed a 17-year-old from Lantz and an 18-year-old international exchange student from Germany were pronounced dead at the scene.
WATCH: Police discuss ‘very, very tragic’ deaths of two girls in train accident in Nova Scotia
RCMP Cpl. Jennifer Clarke told reporters at a morning press conference that they do not have any information about what happened prior to the collision.
“I really can’t speak to specifics about the circumstances right now. It’s very earlier in the investigation as you can appreciate. We’re really trying to gather information to see what took place,” she said. The 911 call was made by a member of the train crew.
Clarke said investigators are expected to be at the scene for most of the day, adding that they’re doing everything they can to piece together the events lead up to the incident.
“We are using a drone. We’re using accident investigators and our investigators are on scene just collecting any available evidence,” Clarke said.
Chignecto-Central Regional School Board spokesperson Debbie Buott-Matheson said grief counsellors and psychologists would be at Hants East Rural High throughout the day to provide students with any help they may need.
Buott-Matheson said classes are in session, “but it’s going to be a fairly fluid day for students and staff.”
“We lost two very young people who were part of the school community. That’s our focus at this point,” Buott-Matheson said, adding that they’re giving the students the space and room they need to deal with the situation.
WATCH: RCMP update on the two teen girls killed after being struck by train in Lantz, Nova Scotia
CN says crew followed proper procedure
As of 11 a.m., the train was moving along the tracks again.
In an emailed statement from CN Rail, spokesperson Jim Feeny said initial reports are that the train crew followed the proper procedure — using the horn and applying emergency brakes — but “it was impossible to stop the train in time.”
The two crew members operating the train have been offered stress counselling, he said.
He added that CN is fully cooperating with the RCMP and coroner’s office through the investigation.
Cpl. Clarke was not able to say whether the teenagers were near a marked crossing on the track.
The Municipality of East Hants called the fatal collision a “tragic loss of life,” in a statement.
“The entire municipality is saddened by the tragic death of two young girls early this morning. Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the girls; as well as, the emergency responders involved,” Warden Jim Smith said in a release.
With files from The Canadian Press.
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