Three international students were killed in a highway crash in Toronto last week, while one remains in critical condition.
Police said a car travelling at extremely high speeds on Highway 427 flew over a concrete ramp, landed in a ditch and then hit another concrete wall before it burst into flames late Monday night.
Ontario Provincial Police have said four international students from Bangladesh, who were living in Toronto, were pulled from the car.
A 20-year-old man and 17-year-old boy who were sitting in the back seats were pronounced dead on the highway and a 20-year-old woman sitting in the front passenger seat died after being taken to hospital, police said.
The 21-year-old driver of the car remains in critical condition.
“We’re very concerned about the manner and description of this crash,” said Sgt. Kerry Schmidt. “(A) very violent collision took place.”
They have been identified by the Consulate General of Bangladesh.
The three students who died were Arian Alam Dipto, Shahriar Mahir Khan and Angela Shreya Baroi, said Consul General Lutfor Rahman.
“On the night of Monday 13 February 2023, three Bangladeshi international students died of a tragic car crash in Toronto. Another student was critically injured. The High Commission and the Bangladesh Consulate in Toronto offer their deep condolences to the families of the deceased students and pray for the salvation of their departed souls and also for the rapid and full recovery of the injured student,” Rahman said.
Nazia Hossain, the vice-president of the National Bangladeshi-Canadian Council, said the driver is the son of a popular musician in Bangladesh and all the international students in the car went to different schools in the Greater Toronto Area.
Last winter, a crash on Ontario’s Highway 401 between a car and a tractor-trailer killed five students from India.
Harpreet Singh, Jaspinder Singh, Karanpal Singh, Mohit Chouhan and Pawan Kumar, who were between the ages of 21 and 24, were pronounced dead at the scene. Police have said they all studied in the Montreal or Greater Toronto areas, according to the Canadian Press.
Efforts were underway to send the bodies to Dhaka.
