STORM2K

Four teens killed in head-on crash near Meaford
Sat Jan 20 2007


The Blue Mountains are in mourning today as the community has lost 4 teenagers in a horrific car crash.

The four young men were killed and two others were sent to hospital after a head-on crash north west of Collingwood on Friday.

Ontario Provincial Police say the crash happened on Highway 26 east of Meaford in the early afternoon, around 12:30pm in snowy and icy road conditions.

Meaford is to the west of Collingwood on the shores of Georgian Bay, and is about 3 hours north of Toronto.

The four people killed are all teenagers from the Town of Blue Mountains and all attended Georgian Bay Secondary School, police told a radio station in Owen Sound.

They victims were identified as Michael Fleming, Drew Perry and Andrew McKean, all 16 years old, and 17-year-old Morgan Fitzgerald. Reports suggest they were heading froma cancelled hockey tournament.

Another passenger in the vehicle, 17-year-old Michael O'Hara, was critically injured in the crash and taken to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto on Bayview Avenue. He too is from Blue Mountains and attends the same high school.

The high school has postponed all exams until Monday, January 29 and will have counsellors on hand on Monday morning (22nd). The school houses 500 students from Grade 9 to 13.

The driver of the other vehicle was identified as Rodney Gibbons, 60, of Meaford. He was taken to a local hospital with unknown injuries.

Police said the crash occurred when the SUV carrying the teens crossed into the westbound lane as it was travelling east on the highway. The vehicle was then struck by a cargo van.

The SUV left the road and landed into the ditch. The impact caused some of the teens to be ejected from the vehicle. It was not clear if they were wearing seatbelts.

The impact littered the roadway with debris, and the SUV's sunroof was found 12 metres up a nearby tree, police said.

Three victims were pronounced dead at the scene, while the fourth died later in hospital.

The highway was still closed late Friday night as police investigated.



Stay with CTV for all the latest news on this developing story.





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-justin-

Mon Jan 22 2007
UPDATE

SOMETIMES BAD THINGS DO HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE

Students and teachers at a central Ontario high school shared tearful hugs and light-hearted memories Monday as they struggled to cope with the loss of four classmates killed Friday in a devastating car accident.

Provincial police believe speed and weather both played a role in the crash Friday that claimed the lives of Michael Fleming, Drew Perry, Morgan Fitzgerald, all 16, and Andrew McKean, 17, near Meaford, a town not far from the resort community of Collingwood.

Three of the teens, who were sitting in the back seat at the time of the crash, were not wearing seat belts and two of them were ejected from the vehicle, Ontario police Insp. Mark Van Landuyt told a news conference.

Alcohol was not a factor in the collision, and the investigation has thus far found no fault on the part of Rodney Gibbons, the second driver involved in the crash, Van Landuyt said.
The group's eastbound SUV veered into oncoming traffic on a stretch of Highway 26, a busy two-lane highway that links Collingwood with the city of Barrie, and was broadsided by the vehicle driven by Gibbons, police said.

Police are continuing to investigate the extent to which speed was a factor, said Van Landuyt, who refused to speculate on whether the outcome of the crash would have been different had everybody been wearing seat belts.

Van Landuyt offered his "deepest condolences" to the families of the victims and noted the investigation is proving especially difficult for many local officers who know the victims and their families personally.

One of them is a school liaison officer, while another knew several of the teens from community hockey, Van Landuyt said.

Beyond the homes of the victims, who hailed from the nearby towns of Thornbury and Clarksburg, nowhere in this tight-knit community in the heart of Blue Mountain ski country was the loss felt more than at Georgian Bay Secondary high school.

As the yellow school buses pulled into the parking lot early Monday, teachers gathered to discuss their role in helping the 600-plus student body deal with the deaths.

That plan included a morning assembly where students and teachers shared prayers for a fifth teen, 17-year-old Michael O'Hara, who is clinging to life in a Toronto hospital.

Students and teachers put together a slide show featuring each of the victims, and compiled a DVD for the families.
Losing one of their own is tragic enough, but four is just unfathomable. Because these boys were such popular young men, it's very difficult.
While classes continued as scheduled in an effort to keep things as normal as possible, the school has set up a memorial room where students can go look at pictures and share their memories of the boys.

Those teachers who knew the boys best described them as avid hockey players and bright leaders who were involved in their school and their community. They're the boys that walk into that class and everything radiates from them, just outstanding young men. They're the type of people would want their children to grow up to be like.


Busloads of kids are expected for visitations at 4-6 p.m. Tuesday in East Ridge Evangelical Missionary Church, on Main St., at the 10th Line in Stouffville, followed by Morgan Fitzgerald's funeral service.

Ferguson Funeral Home staff at 20 Alice St. E., Thornbury, said the only other public visitation is for McKean, from 2-4 p.m., 6:30-9 p.m. there Tuesday.

His funeral is Wednesday, 10:30 a.m., at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Thornbury, followed by Fleming's at 2 p.m. in St. George's Anglican Church, in nearby Clarksburg. Perry's service is Tuesday, 1:30 p.m. in Grace United Church, Thornbury.

-justin-

BREAKING NEWS
Mon Jan 22 2007
The final tragedy most were fearing came to pass on Monday.

The fifth teen injured in that horrific weekend accident succumbed to his injuries in hospital today.
Seventeen year-old Michael O'Hara had been on life support since Friday's terrible collision between his S.U.V. and a van on a snow-covered road in Meaford, Ontario. O'Hara was driving the car when the accident occurred.

He was the only one of his friends who survived the initial impact, but his injuries were simply too severe and the mayor of the Town of Blue Mountains tells CityNews TV he became the final victim of the accident at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre on Bayview Avenue in Toronto.

-justin-

I couldn't believe it when I first heard it. News channels have been all over it, it's such a sad event. Funerals are soon, Blue Mountains is such a quiant area.

i know... i was thinking..wow what makes this event stand out to get so much coverage...well I mean its not everyday a crash kills 5 people..let alone teenagers.... but also its just the way they died... no alchol..just well loved kids in their community. Just really sad.
The first 2 funerals were today:

TUE JAN 23 2007

The close-knit town of Thornbury Ont., was virtually shut down on Tuesday as hundreds of mourners gathered to attend the funeral for 16-year-old Drew Perry, one of five teens killed in a tragic car crash near Meaford Ont.
The Grace United Church in Thornbury couldn't hold everyone who showed up and as a result the Blue Mountains Community Church was opened and a DVD of the funeral service was played to accommodate the scores of mourners.

Probably not one soul in this community did not know Drew, and haven't been impacted by this, school teams and hockey teams and brothers and sisters that makes it such a tragedy.
Drew was described as an adventurous and vibrant person who loved sports and cars.

"It's a sad day for the community," said pastor Bob Lay.
"They've gathered together to remember one of their sons. It's an unfortunate loss, but now it's a time to celebrate their life and remember them well."
As Perry's funeral ended, a memorial for Andrew McKean began.

The funeral for Fitzgerald was scheduled for Tuesday night in Stouffville, Ont. and a service for Fleming will be held Wednesday afternoon in Clarksburg, Ont.

Arrangements for O'Hara who battled for his life but died on Tuesday night were not immediately known.

-justin-