Toronto: Five Indian students were killed in a road accident in Canada’s Ontario province on Saturday, the second major tragedy involving Indians in the country since January. According to media reports, the students, travelling in the passenger van collided with a tractor trailer at around 3. 45am (local time) on Highway 401 in the Quinte West city in southern Ontario. Harpreet Singh, 24, Jaspinder Singh, 21, Karanpal Singh, 21, Mohit Chouhan, 23 and Pawan Kumar, 23 were pronounced dead at the scene, the provincial police said, adding, that they were all students in the Greater Toronto and Montreal areas.
High commissioner of India to Canada, Ajay Bisaria, termed the incident a “heartbreaking tragedy” and said the Indian mission is in touch with friends of the victims for assistance. Mourning the deaths, external affairs minister S Jaishankar tweeted, “Condolences to their families. Pray for the recovery of those injured. @IndiainToronto will provide all necessary support and assistance.” Two other passengers were taken to a hospital with serious injuries, police said, adding that an investi- gation into the accident was underway. The driver of the tractor-trailer was not hurt, CTV News reported.
The number of Indian students attending Canadian universities rose from 76,075 in 2016 to 1,72,625 in 2018, an increase of 127%, according to a report published last year quoting the Canadian Bureau for International Education.
The road accident is the second tragic incident involving Indian nationals in Canada in three months. In January, four Indians, including an infant, were found dead near the Canada-US border in Manitoba.
