3 dead, 1 injured in Alberta highway crash

Three men are dead and one man is in critical condition following a two-vehicle crash early Saturday morning near the community of Beaumont, Alta.

Police said they were called just before 3 a.m. MT to what they thought was a single vehicle rollover south of Beaumont on Highway 625.

When they arrived, they found a Dodge Ram pickup truck had rolled in the ditch beside the highway.

Then, asadditional emergency crews arrived on scene,respondersspotted another crashed vehicle, a Grand Am car, further west.

Crash investigators thinkthe vehicles were both travelling east at the time of the collision.

While they still have to confirm the cause of the crash, speed and alcohol are thought to be a factor.

Three men who police believe were travelling in the Grand Am, two 18-year-olds and one 22-year-old, were killed in the crash. Two of the passengerswere ejected from the vehicle.

The 28-year-old Beaumont man who was in the pickup truck was taken to an Edmonton-area hospital by helicopter and waslisted in critical condition.

Leduc RCMP Const. Jodi Heidinger said they are not releasing the names of the deceased pending notification of the next of kin. She addedno charges had been laid.

The highway was closedduringthe investigation, but has since reopened.