By Sarah Klein
A woman is dead following a two-vehicle crash on the Trans-Canada Highway east of Brandon Friday evening.
The crash between a semi-trailer truck and a minivan occurred at about 5:20 p.m. at the junction of Highway 1 and PR 340.
RCMP say the minivan was travelling northbound on PR 340 when it proceeded to turn west on Highway 1, colliding with the westbound semi. The female driver of the minivan was killed, while two children in the van were taken to hospital. One of the two children was medevaced in critical condition, while the other is in stable but guarded condition. The male driver of the semi was unharmed.
Westbound traffic was blocked for about two hours before police diverted traffic to the eastbound lanes to create a two-way flow.
Collision analysts remain at the scene and motorists are encouraged to take Highway 16 if travelling west.
Further details on the crash were not immediately available.
UPDATE: Saturday, January 14 — The victim in the crash has been identified as a 32-year-old woman from Minnedosa. Her four-year-old twins were travelling with her in the minivan at the time of the crash. All three were extracted from the vehicle and taken to hospital in Brandon. The girl was airlifted from Brandon to Winnipeg Friday evening in critical, but has since been upgraded to stable. The boy is also now in stable condition in Winnipeg. Their names will not be released.
The male driver of the semi, a 64-year-old man from North Dakota, was uninjured.
