The Kahnawake Mohawk Peacekeepers — the local police force in Kahnawake — said that at least two people are dead and three others were injured in a single-vehicle collision early Saturday morning.
The crash happened on Veterans Boulevard — a residential street — at around 3 a.m.
David Lahache, interim public relations officer with the Kahnawake Mohawk Peacekeepers said the driver lost control of the vehicle, hit a guardrail and landed on a parked vehicle, before bursting into flames.
“The impact was so great, it ended up on top of the parked pickup truck — on the hood and roof — before sliding back down,” Lahache said.
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Upon hearing the crash, residents rushed outside and alerted peacekeepers.
When officers arrived at the scene, the vehicle was engulfed in flames.
“Local residents were trying to break windows to get the occupants out,” Lahache said.
One man told Global News, he helped pull out some of the passengers before the fire got to be too much.
Two men — aged 17 and 21 — were pronounced dead at the scene. Peacekeepers confirmed they were both residents of Kahnawake.
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Three other occupants of the vehicle — all women — were taken to hospital for treatment.
One was rushed to a Montreal-area hospital in critical condition, where she was placed in a drug-induced coma, Lahache said.
The other two were taken to a local area hospital, but one was later transferred to Montreal due to the seriousness of her injuries.
Lahache said the driver — a 21-year-old man– sustained minor injuries in the crash. He was taken in for questioning and is in Peacekeepers’ custody.
It is not yet known what charges he could face.
Lahache said speed was a factor in the collision. The Sûreté du Québec was called in to assist in the investigation.
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