In a tragic incident, five Indian students were killed in a road accident in Canada’s Ontario province, said the Canadian police.
The Canadian Press reported that the accident between a passenger van and a tractor-trailer occurred on Saturday on Highway 401 in the Quinte West city in Southern Ontario.
Ontario Provincial Police in Quinte West said that Harpreet Singh, Jaspinder Singh, Karanpal Singh, Mohit Chouhan and Pawan Kumar were pronounced dead at the spot.
The deceased are aged between 21 and 24 years. According to the police, the Indian students killed in the accident are from the Greater Toronto and Montreal areas.
High Commissioner of India to Canada Ajay Bisaria termed the incident a “heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Heart-breaking tragedy in Canada: 5 Indians students passed away in an auto accident near Toronto on Saturday. Two others in hospital. Deepest condolences to the families of the victims. @IndiainToronto team in touch with friends of the victims for assistance”, he said on Twitter.
External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar also expressed his condolences in a tweet.
While two other passengers survived the accident with severe injuries and were taken to a nearby hospital, the police said that an investigation into the accident was underway even though no charges had been laid.
This is the second tragic incident involving Indian nationals in Canada in three months. In January, a family of four Indians, including an infant, were found dead near the Canada-US border in Manitoba. According to Canadian officials, the family from Gujarat died due to exposure to extreme cold.
According to a report published last year quoting the Canadian Bureau for International Education, the number of Indian students attending Canadian universities rose from 76,075 in 2016 to 1,72,625 in 2018, increasing 127 per cent.
