Two children died and three other people were taken to hospital after a collision near Taber, Alta., involving a tractor towing a trailer Sunday night.
Taber/Vauxhall RCMP were called to the area of Range Road 172 and Township Road 82, near the Chin Reservoir, at around 8:30 p.m. to a report that a tractor towing a trailer had rolled over.
Police said that the tractor was towing a trailer with seven youth riding on it. The adult who was driving the tractor reportedly lost control of the tractor as it went down a steep hill on a rural road.
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The trailer reportedly flipped over onto those riding it.
A family member said the group was heading to the reservoir to go swimming.
The other three people were not injured.
Pastor Paul Waldner with the Oaklane colony near Taber identified the boys as two of his relatives – brothers Adam Waldner, 11, and nine-year-old Noah Waldner.
He said children in the community go swimming at the nearby reservoir twice a week and regularly ride on the trailer as it’s pulled by the tractor.
“We always use the tractor and the trailer. Always,” Waldner said.
“They go picking rocks with it, go gardening with it, do fencing with it. That’s how we live on a farm.”
Waldner said the driver was the person flown by STARS. He said the 18-year-old is expected to recover.
An RCMP collision analyst has been called to the scene as the investigation continues.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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