Three children, including an infant, were killed in a crash in east-central Alberta on Wednesday that injured three others.
The victims who died were a 16-year-old girl, an 11-year-old boy and an 11-month-old girl. All three were pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash between a semi-truck and an SUV happened near Hanna, Alta., in the intersection of Highway 36 and Highway 570 at about 5:55 p.m.
Investigators believe the SUV was travelling west on Highway 570 when it collided with the semi-truck, which was travelling south on Highway 36.
Two people from the SUV, the parents of the children, were taken to the Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary. The woman, in her 30s, was airlifted to the hospital by STARS Air Ambulance while the man, in his 40s, was transported via ground ambulance. Both remained in hospital in stable condition Thursday morning.
The driver of the semi was taken to hospital via ground ambulance.
Cpl. Laurel Scott called the crash “extremely tragic” and said an investigation is underway to help determine the cause.
“Right now, we cannot speculate on the cause of this collision or provide any information about that.”
Watch: RCMP Cpl. Laurel Scott expresses sympathy for the parents of three children killed in a highway collision near Hanna, Alta.
RCMP confirm the family in the SUV was from Washington State.
“It’s a tragic event that is very saddening to me,” Hanna Mayor Chris Warwick said. “We hate for people to come visit our part of the world and end up with a tragic event like this; it’s a very sad situation, for sure.”
In January, a collision in the same intersection killed two people and injured two others. At the time, RCMP said an eastbound Hyundai Tucson was hit by a northbound semi-trailer.
“With that intersection … it is wide open and you can see for miles, but it is a straight stretch of highway and I think it’s easy to lose your attention,” Warwick said.
“Perhaps some flashing lights before the stop sign on [Highway] 570 would help to deter some of these tragic accidents.”
Rob Muschinski travels through the intersection frequently and said he’s seen crashes there before.
Hanna is located about 220 kilometres northeast of Calgary.
– With files from Doug Vaessen