Police are still trying to piece together details of a tragic accident that claimed the lives of three cyclists Friday when a pickup truck plowed into a group of riders cycling in Rougemont, south of Montreal.

Twisted bikes and helmets were strewn across rural Highway 112 for most of Friday following the tragic accident as investigators took measurements and aerial shots of the crash site.

Five women and one man, all members of the Club de Triathlon St. Lambert, were cycling on the four-lane undivided highway, Friday morning, heading east to a weekend training event in Sherbrooke.

The three women killed were 36-year-old Sandra De-La-Garza-Aguilar from St. Bruno, 39-year-old Lyn Duhamel from Boucherville and 44-year-old Christine Deschamps.

 

The accident occurred on a straight stretch of the highway just before 10 a.m., when the eastbound pick-up truck came up behind the cyclists, who were also heading east in single file along the shoulder of the road. The speed limit on that road is 90 kilometres an hour, but nearby residents say drivers typically drive much faster.

The other three victims, a 57-year-old man, and two women, aged 44 and 31, are expected to survive, according the Surete du Quebec Sgt. Claude Denis.

Police have ruled out alcohol as a factor in the fatal collision.

"The driver of the vehicle in question was a man and alcohol is not a factor," said Denis, adding that the weather is not believed to have played a role. "It was cloudy but it wasn't raining."

A bike path only 200 metres from the site of the crash runs parallel to the highway, but Denis said he could guess why the cyclist hadn't taken that route.

"All these bicycles are road bicycles and the wheels are very thin," he said.

One veteran police officer said it was the worst accident of its kind he'd seen in his 25 years on the force.

The truck driver was not injured. Police said he attempted to administer first aid to at least one of the victims after the accident.

Cyclist Bruno Sevigny, from the same triathlon club as the victims, said his safety on a bike was a concern.

"You're a fragile person on a bike. Things happen so fast," he said.

Transport Quebec said Friday that it now plans to pave the shoulder and add a traffic light to that portion of the road.

With files from CTV.ca News Staff