Teen hockey player killed, three injured in crash
Three hurt in crash south of Renfrew
Both Renfrew-area residents and the region’s junior hockey communities were in mourning Friday after a crash that killed a teenage player and injured three others.
Brandon Thomas Hanniman of Admaston Bromley Township was pronounced dead at the scene on Calabogie Road about two kilometres south of Burnstown, a village south of Renfrew.
The four young men, all of them 18, were in the car when it went off the road and into a rock cut. A passing motorist came upon the wrecked vehicle and called 911 shortly after midnight Friday, drawing police, paramedics and firefighters from McNab Braeside Township.
Several of the young men had been ejected from the vehicle, Renfrew OPP said. Two were rushed to the trauma centre in Ottawa by ambulance while a third was taken by an Ornge helicopter that met paramedics in Renfrew. One was still listed in critical condition Friday evening.
It’s not clear who was driving and what caused the crash but two OPP technical collision investigators were helping Renfrew OPP reconstruct the collision.
Police would like to hear from anyone who saw or spoke to the young men earlier in the evening, Const. Janice Sawbridge said.
“My heart is breaking for this poor family, for all of them,” Sawbridge said, noting that all four of the young men hail from in or around Renfrew, which is about 85 kilometres west of Ottawa.
Chief Michael Nolan of the Renfrew County Paramedic Service said first responders were not able to tell immediately what kind of vehicle the young men were in because it was “unrecognizable.”
Nolan called the situation a difficult one for the community and rescuers.
“It hits home in many ways,” he said.
Hanniman was a player on the Renfrew Timberwolves of Central Canada Hockey League Tier 2.
Officials with both tiers of the CCHL sent their condolences to the team and families, as did their counterparts across the region using the hashtag “#wolfpackstrong.”