Friends and family have identified the three teenaged victims of a fatal crash in Surrey overnight as up-and-coming hockey players.
Caleb Reimer, Ronin Sharma and Parker Magnuson died on Saturday at around 2:45 a.m. when their car crashed into a tree near 104 Avenue near 160 Street.
Surrey RCMP has not released the victims’ identities but did confirm that the boys, all aged between 16 and 17, were deceased when first responders arrived at the scene.
“It’s indescribable. It’s just three amazing, amazing people who had an insanely bright futures ahead of them. You can’t even put the pain into word. It’s just gut-wrenching,” Adriana D’Alessandro, a close friend of Sharma and Reimer’s, told Global News.
“You can’t even believe it. It’s just something that you can’t make up. Everyone has to be strong together and keep their memory alive forever.”
D’Alessandro said Sharma was her closest friend, who was always good for advice and the bright point of her days at school. Reimer, she said, had a big heart and was always able to make those around him laugh.
The three teens were best friends, she said, who lived for their sport.
“Hockey every day, hockey for everything, always training, eating right, all this stuff just for hockey and to make themselves better people for hockey and for their teammates,” she said.
“That just goes to show you the kind of guys they were: very selfless guys, just always wanted what was better for the team.”
Tali Campbell, general manager and vice-president of the BCHL Coquitlam Express, said the hockey community was shattered by the news.
“The hockey community is small, so hearing that it was three local players in the Lower Mainland breaks your heart all the more. I’m not a parent myself, but as a GM, I feel I’m a parent of 23 young men all the time,” he said.
“These three young men had their entire lives ahead of them.”
Campbell said he knew Magnuson and Sharma through BCHL camps. Reimer had recently signed with the WHL Edmonton Oil Kings, he added.
“I can speak for the other 17 teams in the BCHL, Junior B, U18 etc… We are going to come together and support each other,” he said. “This is not going to be an easy road for these three families.”
The cause of the crash remains under investigation, and 104 Avenue was closed throughout Saturday between 160 Street and Fraserglen Drive while police investigated.
Anyone who witnessed the crash or has video taken in the area at the time is asked to contact Surrey RCMP or Crime Stoppers if they wish to remain anonymous.