6 injured, house damaged after major collision between 2 SUVs in Western Manitoba

Two vehicles involved in a major collision were propelled by the force of the crash into a nearby home causing major damage.

Alcohol and speeding are both considered factors in the crash, according to Yellowhead RCMP.

RCMP were searching for two speeding vehicles in the Sandy Lake area after receiving a report of an impaired driver Friday just before 4 p.m.

Around 4 p.m., officers were sent to another report, a motor vehicle collision, involving the two vehicles RCMP had been searching for -- a silver SUV and a dark-coloured SUV.

Both SUVs were speeding northbound on Main Street when they collided.

"The impact of the crash caused the SUVs to leave the roadway and crash into a house on Main Street, causing significant damage," RCMP say.

No one was in the home at the time of the crash.

Six individuals were involved in the collision, with three in each SUV.

Local fire chief Chad Davies says the jaws of life was used in the crash to extract three individuals from the dark blue SUV and to remove the driver of the silver SUV from his vehicle.

Serious injuries, STARS dispatched

A man driving the silver SUV, 25, and his 21-year-old male passenger were both taken to hospital with serious injuries. A second male passenger, 32, had minor injuries.

A 25-year-old woman was driving the dark blue SUV. She was taken to hospital with serious injuries, along with her two passengers, a 24-year-old woman and a man, 27.

STARS air ambulance was dispatched from Winnipeg to the scene just before 5:00 p.m., according to a tweet.

STAR 7 (Winnipeg) has been dispatched for a Scene Call Emergency in the Sandy Lake, MB area.

— STARS air ambulance (@STARSambulance) October 16, 2020

Deborah Tetley, a spokesperson for STARS, says the crew worked with EMS in Neepawa and "carried and cared for an adult male" following the crash.

Tetley says the man was in stable condition when taken to the Health Science Centre in Winnipeg.

RCMP are still investigating the crash with a forensic collision reconstructionist.

Sandy Lake is located about 230 kilometres west of Winnipeg.

Home "destroyed"

A business in Brentwood, B.C. took to Facebook to share how the crash impacted them.

Those behind Heart and Sole Wellness, an alternative and holistic health service, shared their home was the one damaged in the Oct.16 Sandy Lake incident.

"For those of you that don’t know our main home that we own full of our belongings is located in Sandy Lake Manitoba. While in class today in Langley I was notified that this is currently going on in my home," Heart and Sole say in their post.

"We are heading back from Langley and my classes, and we are going to have to go home to deal with this."

T.J. Hookers Towing and Recovery attended the scene.

"We had a very serious accident to clean up last night," the company wrote in a Facebook post Saturday morning.

"We've been told street racing is one of the causes of the crash. From what we know there are some serious injuries, but all occupants will be ok. The house will likely need to be demolished as it moved it off its foundation by 5 or 6 feet.

"Thankfully the home owners were not inside the home at the time of the crash."

The towing company thanked the Sandy Lake Fire Department for their assistance in cleaning up the scene.

The homeowners are still in shock over the incident and client appointments for the upcoming week will be cancelled.

They ask for prayers for those injured in the crash.

"If everyone can send prayers to those hurt ... yes what they did was stupid... but everyone makes mistakes," Heart and Sole writes in a comment on their initial post.

"And please pray insurance is not difficult and please pray for a safe trip home for us."