Toronto, March 14 (IANS): Five Indian students in Canada have been killed in a highway collision in Canada’s Ontario province.
The five were killed when their van collided with a tractor-trailer on Canada’s Highway 401 between Belleville and Trenton early Saturday morning.
Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have identified them as Jaspinder Singh, 21, Karanpal Singh, 22, Mohit Chouhan, 23, Pawan Kumar, 23, and Harpreet Singh, 24.
They were pronounced dead on the scene.
Two injured students were rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
The victims were students in colleges in Montreal and the Greater Toronto Area (GTA).
OPP Constable Maggie Pickett said, “It’s a tragedy. Nobody wants to respond to that call for service, but we’re there, we’re working.”
There are over 200,000 Indian students currently studying in colleges in Canada.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday mourned the demise of five Indian students who were killed in a road accident near Toronto, Canada.
Taking to Twitter, he said, “Deeply mourn the passing away of five Indian students in Canada. Condolences to their families. Pray for the recovery of those injured.”
Jaishankar also said that the Indian Consulate General in Toronto will provide all the necessary support and assistance in this regard.
The Minister’s tweet was in reply to Indian High Commissioner to Canada, Ajay Bisaria’s post late Sunday night in which he said besides the five victims, two were also injured in the accident on Saturday.
According to media reports, the accident occurred on a highway when the passenger van in which the students were travelling in that collided with a tractor-trailer.
