Three dead on Sask. roads over long weekend: RCMP

RCMP officers responded to three fatal incidents on Saskatchewan’s roads over the Canada Day long weekend.

The first fatal crash was a single-vehicle rollover Friday afternoon that happened on Canoe Road, south of Canoe Narrows. The RCMP said the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle – a 27-year-old man from Beauval – was declared dead at the scene. His family has been notified, the RCMP added.

The second case, a single-vehicle rollover Friday night on the Fishing Lake First Nation, left a 52-year-old man from that community dead, the RCMP said. He was the driver and sole occupant of the vehicle, and his family has been notified of his death.

The third fatal incident happened in the early hours Sunday. According to the RCMP, a vehicle left Highway 1 near Chaplin and “came to rest in a body of water.” The driver, a 36-year-old Alberta man, was declared dead at the scene. His family has also been notified, the RCMP said, and a female passenger was taken to hospital by a STARS helicopter with serious injuries

All three crashes remain under police investigation, the RCMP said, with help from the Saskatchewan Coroners Service and police collision reconstruction experts.

Despite the trio of fatal incidents over the long weekend, police noted that fatal collisions appear to be down in Saskatchewan in 2023.

“From January 1 to July 2, 2023, Saskatchewan RCMP has responded to 26 fatal collisions, two less than over the same period in 2022,” the RCMP said in a statement.

“Twenty-seven people have died as a result of collisions in 2023, six less than over the same period last year.”