Community 'pretty tense' after girl, 7, dies in head-on crash on Nairn Road

There's an uneasiness in Alisa Craig and its surrounding communities following the death of a little girl in a head-on crashon NairnRoad, about 10 minutes west of Ilderton.

Everybody in the community is feeling pretty tense.- Don Shipway

"I hope it's nobody I know," saidBrendaEvans, who lives in the nearby village of Alisa Craig."It's very sad. Absolutely terrible, very sombre, especially when they release the name, it's going to be horrible."

Evans, like most in the village and its surrounding hamlets, are waiting on tenterhooks for the seven-year-old girl's identity.

Shewas in the back passenger seat of a four-door sedan that was travelling northbound on NairnRd when it collided witha southbound pickup truck attempting to turn east onto McEwan Drive.

'Everyone is wondering what can we do?'

The girl suffered life-threatening injuries and was rushed to hospital, where she died.The driverof the four-door car was her mother. She is still in hospital in stablecondition.

Five people in the pickup truck suffered injuries that are not life-threatening.

Police said everyone involved in the crash is from the AilsaCraig area and that charges in the incident would likely be pending once the investigation is complete.

"Everybody in the community is feeling pretty tense," said Don Shipway, the mayor of the municipality of MiddlesexNorth, of which includes the village of Alisa Craig and the nearby hamlet of Nairn, among others.

'It's unreal'

Shipwaysaid people have already been talking about a fundraiser to help the family of the little girl who diedonce she has been identified by the OPPthrough the local Lion's and Optimist community service clubs.

"Everyone is wondering, what can we do?"

Others wonder if something can't be done about the speed at which some cars travel down NairnRoad, which has a limit of 90 km/h.

A man who lives in a farmhouse not far from the crash site said he often finds it difficult to cross the busy rural road in order to leave his waste at the curbside for pickup.

"It's unreal," he said. "You have to wait and wait and wait. It's crazy."