A 16-year-old teenager is dead and two other teenagers are seriously injured after a crash in Scarborough just before 1:30 a.m. Friday.
Toronto police said a 14-year-old boy, who was the passenger in the vehicle, is in life-threatening condition. The third boy, a 16-year-old who was in the back seat, has serious injuries after the car they were in slammed into a light pole near Brimley Road and McNicoll Avenue.
Police said the driver suffered critical injuries and died in hospital. He was later identified as Hanzala Tariq.
A white Mercedes Benz lost control and hopped the curb crashing into a light pole that ended up toppling onto the vehicle, said police. Emergency services had to extricate the driver.
Family of Tariq arrived at the crash scene Friday morning. A man, who said he was his uncle, said in tears “he was too young… all our family is broken.”
The uncle said he believes his nephew took his mother’s car out at around midnight. The family also said the three boys in the car were all friends.
Investigators said speed and weather were likely factors in this crash.
Toronto police said it’s not clear why the teens were on the road at that time or what class of licence the driver had.
The Durham District School Board confirmed in a statement that Tariq was a Grade 10 student at Anderson CVI in Whitby.
“The Durham District School Board extends our heartfelt condolences to the Tariq family and friends,” the statement read.
In Ontario, a person needs to be at least 16 years old to apply for a driver’s licence.
Under the province’s graduated licensing system, drivers with a G1 permit must not be on the road between midnight and 5 a.m. and need to be accompanied by a driver with at least four years of experience.
Those conditions apply for at least eight months to a year, depending on whether the permit-holder takes a driver education course. G2 drivers who are 19 and under can only drive with one other minor in the vehicle between midnight and 5 a.m. for the first six months they hold that permit.
Brimley Road was closed until about 11 a.m. Friday from McNicoll Avenue to Wenlock Gate for the collision reconstruction investigation.
— With files from The Canadian Press.
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