OPP launches intersection safety campaign after deadly rural crash
Five children were killed in a two-vehicle collision Friday near Kitchener; the province's police force is preparing a public awareness blitz.
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The Ontario Provincial Police's Perth County detachment is launching a public awareness campaign next week to highlight intersection dangers, following a deadly two-vehicle collision that killed five children in rural Ontario.
The crash occurred around 7:30 p.m. on June 13 at the intersection of 4th Line and Wellington Road 12 in Mapleton Township, northwest of Kitchener. A van carrying 10 people collided with a sport utility vehicle and its sole occupant. Police say the five children killed were aged 4, 6, 8, 10, and 12. An infant was among six people injured; police believe the children's parents and grandparents were also seriously hurt, and the SUV driver was hospitalized with critical injuries.
"This is an unimaginable loss," OPP Superintendent Dwight Thib told reporters at police headquarters in Fergus. From 2021 to 2025, the OPP recorded almost 5,000 motor vehicle collisions in rural Ontario, with about a quarter of those being intersection-related. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in a statement that his thoughts are with those involved and called for the community to come together in the wake of the tragedy. The investigation is ongoing to determine the full circumstances of the crash.