MONTREAL - Friends of the four victims of a car crash Wednesday at 1 p.m. on Highway 117 in the La Verendrye Nature Reserve are expressing shock and sadness following news of their deaths.
Their car slammed head-on into a pickup truck that was traveling in the opposite direction.
The first indications suggest that the driver lost control of his car when he was trying to pass another vehicle.
Both the car and the pickup truck were estimated to be traveling at about 90 km/h at the time of impact.
The adults in the front seat were ejected from the car and the two children in the back remained inside when the car was split in two by the force of the collision.
The four had roots in Abitibi and were driving back home to Longueuil after their visit.
The four dead are Danny Lambert, 36, Stephanie Lavallee, 29, Mya Lambert-Duchesne, 7 and Emy-Rose Lambert, 2.
Friends were clearly in shocked when interviewed by CTV Montreal about the accident Thursday.
“You can't stop thinking about that that it could happen to you. I have a family and I’m driving around in my car like everyone else. It can happen, it was just a freak accident, it's so sad,” said friend Michael Mantha
Everybody had good things to say about the four left dead, included a colleague of Lambert's.
“Everybody knew him well, and everybody got along with him. he was a pillar almost. a very good guy,” Stephen Dufour
The truck driver only suffered minor wounds and was brought to a hospital in Mont Laurier.
The road was slippery with ice and snow at the time, according to SQ officer Marc Tessier.
The road was partially closed for some time following the accident.
-With a file from The Canadian Press
