3 dead, 6 injured in vehicle collisions on Manitoba’s Highway 6
Posted August 7, 2024 10:38 am.
Last Updated August 7, 2024 11:00 am.
Police in Manitoba say three people were killed and another six were injured in two separate but related collisions on Highway 6 Monday afternoon.
RCMP say the first collision happened around 3:45 p.m. about 40 kilometres south of the community of Grand Rapids.
Investigators believe an SUV crossed the centre line of Highway 6, the main transportation link to northern Manitoba, and collided head-on with a minivan, which was operating as a handivan.
Police say a 23-year-old woman from Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, who was sitting in the front passenger seat of the SUV, was declared dead on scene. The 23-year-old driver of the SUV and two other passengers sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
A 42-year-old woman from the Mosakahiken Cree Nation, the front passenger in the minivan, was taken to a nursing station in Grand Rapids, where she died of her injuries. A 54-year-old Winnipeg man who was driving the minivan, and one other passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
No charges have been laid.
A portion of Highway 6 was closed for about seven hours, reopening around 11 p.m. RCMP said it advised motorists waiting that it would be a long closure, and that many opted to turn around.
Police say a second fatal collision occurred some 30 minutes after the highway reopened involving an SUV that “had a drained battery from the long wait and would not start.”
“A southbound pickup truck turned around to assist the SUV, pulling up behind it,” Grand Rapids RCMP said in a news release. “At that time, all occupants had exited both vehicles and were standing roadside.
“A northbound van pulling a loaded trailer collided with the back of the pickup truck, which then struck the SUV, which caused the SUV to strike two of the individuals standing outside the vehicles. Both individuals were occupants of the SUV.”
Police say a 33-year-old man from The Pas was killed in that second collision, and that a 36-year-old man, also from The Pas, was injured.
The RCMP is investigating both fatal incidents.
