*EDITOR’S NOTE: RCMP initially said three of the five youths were taken to hospital but later issued a correction indicating all five were transported to hospitals in Lethbridge and Calgary.
A three-vehicle collision on highways 5 and 52, south of Lethbridge, sent five teenagers from the same high school to the hospital Thursday.
Police said emergency crews were called to the crash at around 5:45 p.m.
“Preliminary investigating has revealed that a northbound white truck hauling a trailer on Highway 5 collided with a westbound truck entering Highway 52, the collision also involved a southbound car,” an RCMP news release said Friday.
Greg Maxwell, president of a local church, said the teenage victims attended Magrath High School and played for the Raymond Comets football team. He said the students were returning home from a practice when the collision occurred.
He said all five young men were in the truck that was hit by the truck towing the trailer. They were trying to turn onto Highway 5 from Highway 52 and their vehicle was struck on the driver’s side.
Maxwell said among the injured were Grade 10 student Nate Dick and Grade 12 student Mason Stock. They both suffered head injuries and were airlifted to a hospital in Calgary.
Jaxon Gruninger, who’s also in Grade 12, suffered a broken leg and a broken neck and was sent to a Calgary hospital.
Grade 11 student Hale Ogden sustained unspecified injuries and is at the Lethbridge Hospital. Garrett Stock, who’s in Grade 10, is at the same hospital with less serious injuries.
Maxwell spoke with the families of the students and they shared with him their names and injury status. He said the families gave their permission for the information to be shared with Global News.
RCMP said the two youths who were taken to Lethbridge Hospital suffered non-life-threatening injuries. They confirmed three patients were taken to a Calgary hospital — two via STARS and one by EMS. Of those three youths, RCMP said two suffered serious, non-life-threatening injuries and one has serious, life-threatening injuries. All five remained in hospital Friday.
“The lone male occupant of the white northbound truck was treated for minor injuries on scene and released,” the Friday RCMP release said. “The female driver of the car was transported to the hospital in Lethbridge by EMS with non-life-threatening injuries.”
Friday’s football game between Raymond and Catholic Central High School has been postponed, Maxwell said.
Magrath is located about 35 kilometres south of Lethbridge.
–More to come
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