LANTZ, N.S. — Two teenage girls were killed by a train early this morning in a rural community outside Halifax.
RCMP say they were called to an intersection at Mader Street and Highway 2 in Lantz, N.S., around 1:40 a.m. after someone on the train called 911.
They say a 17-year-old from Lantz and an 18-year-old former international exchange student from Germany were pronounced dead at the scene of the collision.
Cpl. Jennifer Clarke said the CN freight train was heading south to Halifax when it hit the young women, who were not at a crossing.
Jim Feeny, CN's director of public affairs, said two crew members were not able to stop the train in time, and have been offered stress counselling.
"Initial reports are that the crew followed proper procedures, sounding the train horn and applying the emergency brakes, but it was impossible to stop the train in time to prevent this tragedy," Feeny said in a statement.
Debbie Buott-Matheson, a spokeswoman for the Chignecto-Central Regional School Board, says the young woman from Lantz was a student at Hants East Rural High School.
She says grief counsellors and psychologists were at the school today to help students and staff.
Denise Bellefontaine, manager of a café at the nearby East Hants Sportsplex, said she came upon the scene as she drove to work at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
"I came to the train tracks and the lights were flashing. I saw the train was stopped. I didn't know anything had happened," said Bellefontaine.
