A young girl was killed, and a teenage girl was seriously injured mid-evening Sunday in the Laurentians when the all-terrain vehicle (ATV) on which they were riding swerved and crashed into a ditch.

The tragedy occurred at around 8.30 p.m. in Val-des-Lacs, northeast of Mont-Tremblant.

The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) reports that the vehicle was travelling on Lac Durocher Road when the 14-year-old driver lost control of her side-by-side vehicle. When she hit the ditch, she was ejected from the ATV, as was the other 11-year-old occupant.

Both were taken to hospital. The 11-year-old girl was pronounced dead, but the driver will live, even though she was seriously injured, police say.

The Sûreté du Québec will be looking into the causes of the accident, but early on Monday, it considered that the driver's inexperience had probably contributed to the swerve.

Police were not yet able to establish whether the driver was of legal age to drive such a vehicle.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 29, 2023.