June 11, 2012 - 2:52 PM
LAKESHORE, Ont. - Grief counsellors are at a southwestern Ontario school today after a young student and her sister were killed in a van that was hit by a train.
Six-year-old Wynter Williams — a senior kindergarten student at Belle River Public School — died along with her three-year-old sister Brooklyn, who would have started school in September.
Their four-year-old brother Dryden is clinging to life a Detroit hospital following Sunday's horrific crash at a level crossing in Lakeshore, Ont., east of Windsor.
The children's father, Andrew Williams, is in a Windsor hospital with life-threatening injuries, while the youngest child, one-year-old Jasmyn, suffered minor injuries.
Social workers with the school board are offering support to staff and students who may be suffering trauma after Sunday's tragedy.
Meanwhile, a Transportation Safety Board investigator is headed to the scene of the collision to try to find out what happened.
Authorities have said visibility was good at the crossing, which intersected a gravel road. A CP rail spokesman said the freight train's crew tried to alert the van's driver that the train was coming.
Chris Krepski, a spokesman for the safety board, says it's early in the investigation but efforts will be made to gather as much information as possible, including examining the wreckage and speaking to witnesses.
The collision happened Sunday morning at a level crossing outside the town of Lakeshore, where police said the family is from.
The crossing has few safeguards except for a warning sign, provincial police said Sunday.
(CKLW, The Canadian Press)
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012