Five children from one family in Elmira were killed in a rural Ontario crash, leaving nearby communities grieving and rallying around the family.
Five children from one family were killed Friday in a two-vehicle crash in rural Ontario, a loss that has left communities northwest of Kitchener-Waterloo in shock and mourning.
The collision happened at 4th Line and Wellington Road 12 in Mapleton Township. Ontario Provincial Police told CBC News the children — four girls and one boy, ages four, six, eight, 10 and 12 — were travelling in a family van with 10 people inside when it collided with an SUV occupied by a single driver.
Four adults and an infant in the van, along with the driver of the SUV, suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital, police said. The family was from Elmira, a town about 15 kilometres southeast of the crash scene.
By Sunday, people had begun stopping at the intersection to leave flowers, stuffed animals and wooden crosses. The makeshift memorial marked the scale of a tragedy that officials and residents described as difficult to absorb in a close-knit rural area.
Sandy Shantz, the mayor of Woolwich Township, where Elmira is located, said the community was shaken by the deaths and worried for the family and friends of those involved.
“A tragedy like this, you mourn the loss of five young lives that don’t get to grow up and live a full life,” Shantz said.
Elmira has about 12,000 residents, Shantz said, and many people in the area have strong faith ties, including Mennonite communities. She said people of different denominations and backgrounds often come together in moments of crisis.
“I think the community comes together and surrounds them,” Shantz said. “I think a sense of faith can give them strength to handle it.”
Katharina Boese, who lives near the crash site, told CBC News she was outside feeding chickens when she heard the collision and a tire landed in her yard. She and her husband ran toward the scene, where she said she saw the van on its side in a field and bystanders trying to help before emergency crews arrived.
Boese said she found the infant in the back seat of the van and spoke to the child until paramedics arrived. She also said she heard someone involved in the crash speaking Low German, a language commonly used by Mennonites.
At Elmira Mennonite Church, pastor Kara Carter said the congregation gathered Sunday morning under the weight of grief.
“When one in our community is suffering, we all suffer,” Carter said, adding that people were praying for one another after the crash.
The deaths have put attention on a rural intersection now marked by public mourning. Police have identified the basic circumstances of the collision and the number of people killed and injured, while the communities closest to the family are beginning to reckon with the loss.
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