The Chief of a southern Ontario First Nation community says two young girls killed in a devastating head-on collision near Caledonia were returning home from playing laser tag with a youth group when the crash occurred.

Police say a passenger van with eight occupants was heading south on Highway 6, between 4th Line and 5th Line, when another vehicle travelling north crossed the centre line and struck the van head-on.

The impact sent the van off the roadway where it entered a ditch and rolled.

Twelve-year-old Grace King and 14-year-old Waagosh Secord, both of Mississauga’s of the New Credit First Nation, were pronounced dead on the scene.

The 21-year-old driver of the northbound vehicle – identified by OPP as Wyatt Martin of the Six Nations of the Grand River First Nation -- was also killed in the crash. His uncle, Richard Martin, told CTV News that Martin was an iron worker who had been commuting back and forth from working on the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie. He had a young son and was expecting another child with his girlfriend this spring, his family said.

Five other people were taken to hospital with serious injuries. Their current status is not known at this time.

Chief Stacey LaForme of Mississauga’s of the New Credit First Nation told reporters Thursday morning that approximately 15 people from a community youth group were heading home from playing laser tag in Hamilton when one of their two vans became involved in an accident.

LaForme said the entire community is grieving the loss.

“I’m sure you can imagine… but it’s not just the families. The families are in our hearts, but this is a whole nation, so it’s rough. It’s rough for me too,” he said.

As well, a GoFundMe page has been set up to support the community.

“Please help support the families of New Credit First Nation, impacted by the tragic accident that took the lives of two children and left the community devastated,” the description of the page said.

LaForme said the MNCFN Community Centre opened its doors late last night offering a place of refuge for those needing support or counselling. He said all classes at Lloyd S. King Elementary School have been cancelled for today and possibly tomorrow.

“We gave them as much information as we had,” LaForme said of the community centre.

“We welcomed them to stay overnight, we welcome them to stay all day today. We have invited counsellors in. We have some of the elders doing smudging, stuff of that nature, which is a part of our culture. So we’re trying to support each other.”

LaForme said he hasn’t yet spoken to the victim’s families but will when they feel ready.

“The close knit-ness of the community and the nation is something we’re very proud of and something we strive to maintain,” he said.

“When we lose children, people always think of your children, my children, her children, his children, but they’re all our children.”

OPP Const. Ed Sanchuk said investigators are trying to determine what led to the crash.

“We are in the early stages of the investigation and we are trying to piece together the puzzle, exactly what happened here. We have more questions than answers and we are going to hopefully have this investigative process completed so we can get those questions answered right away.”

Witnesses, first-responders describe horrific scene

The crash was witnesses by several people, many of whom remained at the scene to give statements to investigators.

“They are very upset about this as well,” Sanchuck said. “We are obviously getting them the needed help.”

A woman who lives in the area where the crash took place said she was running on her treadmill when she heard what sounded like a bomb go off.

She said she ran outside with her phone and called 911.

“Everybody converged on to the scene. There were people stopping on the side of the road,” she said.

“All we heard was children screaming.”

Sanchuck called the deadly collision “very traumatic” for first responders.

“We attended a meeting earlier tonight to discuss exactly what transpired tonight and it is very difficult for officers to obviously knock on someone’s door and tell them their loved ones are deceased,” he said.

“We live in a small community and our thoughts and prayers go out to all the family members.”

At the site of the crash Thursday afternoon, a man and his son stopped by to with an offering of cedar – a sacred Indigenous medicine – to the victim’s spirits.

“I heard the news last night and I was devastated so I wanted to come down here today and offer prayers and offer that cedar to the ones that have passed on… offer cedar to the community,” the man, who did not provide his name, told CTV News Toronto. “It’s a time for healing right now.”

The man said a sacred fire has been lit in Mississauga New Credit where mourners are encouraged to gather to pay respects.

“It’s four days they light that sacred fire and if people want to go offer their prayers or offer their medicine like I just did here,” he said.

Meanwhile, Haldimand County Mayor Ken Hewitt said he’s devastated by the news.

“It’s shocking, it’s truly devastating to have something like this happen in a small community,” he said. “It brings everybody together but it’s not the way we want to come together. It’s an awful thing to happen.”

Hewitt acknowledged that there have been other serious and fatal crashes on the same stretch of highway in the past.

“It is a very busy highway. We’ve continued to lobby with the province to look at alternatives and options to make that highway a safer place, albeit driver error is still driver error and we recognize that,” he said.

“But we believe that amount of truck traffic and the amount of traffic that flows through there would warrant a highway that’s not necessarily a small two-lane highway as it is today.”

Hewitt went on to say that the county is coming together and looking at ways how they can support the families of the victims.

“At this point we’re doing what we can to support those who are directly and indirectly involved through all our social services programs and I know that there is a significant amount of people out who will try and help,” he said.