Woman charged in crash that killed family of four appears in court

Catherine Loye McKay has been charged with three counts of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death in the incident in Saskatoon, Sask., Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2016.

Family friend Colin Chatfield said those who knew the Van de Vorsts are stunned by their sudden deaths.

The 34-year-old man who was driving the Hyundai and the 33-year-old woman who was a passenger both died at the scene.

The couple’s two-year-old son, Miguire, died later in hospital, and police confirmed Monday that their five-year-old daughter, Kamryn had also died.

Communications director Doug Wakabayashi said a 2014 independent safety study showed it is no more risky than others of its kind in the province.

The crash remains under investigation, and the names of the victims have not been released. “We have installed a lot of safety features at that intersection over the years”.

“Although the collision frequency is increasing faster than traffic volume, which may indicate some deterioration of safety at that intersection”, he said. The mother and father were pronounced dead on scene while the children were taken to hospital in critical condition.

In fact, he and his family celebrated New Year’s Eve by heading outdoors to take photos of the northern lights.

The 49-year-old appeared briefly in court, was remanded in custody and is to appear in court again Thursday.

At around 12:30 a.m. CT on January 3, members of Warman RCMP came across the collision at the intersection of Highway 11 and Wanuskewin Road.

McKay was scheduled to appear in court Monday morning.