Warning: Graphic content The call for changes to an Interlake intersection is growing as more people who knew the four teenagers killed in a weekend crash near Winnipeg Beach speak out. Family and friends have identified the victims as Maya Borsa, Braiden Davis and Chloe Vermette, all 18. The fourth victim has been identified by family as Landyn Kay-Cameron, 17. RCMP said the collision happened Sunday when a vehicle travelling west on Highway 229 with the four teenagers was struck while crossing Highway 8 by a southbound van. Police said officers responded to the crash at about 9:15 p.m. The intersection has stop signs for westbound and eastbound traffic. Both vehicles ended up in the southwest ditch, police said, with one vehicle rolling onto its roof. All four teenagers died at the scene. Four people from Winnipeg were in the van, which was driven by a 49-year-old man, RCMP said. The group, which also included an adult woman and two children, suffered minor injuries and were taken by ambulance to Winnipeg. An RCMP spokesperson said Thursday the investigation remains ongoing and there is no new information to release. “This type of investigation can take some time,” the spokesperson said. Carlo Guzzi, owner of Carlo’s Cucina restaurant in Gimli, said Maya worked for him as a server for a couple of summers at his former Sandy Hook location. He said he also knew the other victims, describing them as a tight-knit group of longtime friends. “These kids were inseparable. They were best friends,” said Guzzi, who lives in Winnipeg Beach, near where the crash occurred. “They all come to my restaurant … they’re just really good kids.” “Living in the country, things are a little different than city living. Friends — they get to see each other here and there in Winnipeg — but out here, this is all we got. So, we come together differently in rural municipalities in Manitoba,” he said. “It’s actually hit our community pretty big.” Guzzi said the crash has strengthened calls for changes to the intersection. He said he would like to see bigger stop signs and a flashing red light installed to assist with visibility. “It’s a death trap,” Guzzi said, echoing comments Maya’s father told CTV News earlier this week. Two fatalities had previously been reported at the same intersection over the past decade, according to Manitoba Public Insurance data. One happened this past July and another in 2021, both the result of a driver failing to yield the right of way, an MPI spokesperson said. The intersection has also been the site of 24 other collisions since 2017, MPI said. Wildlife was cited as a major contributing factor in half of those collisions, while two were attributed to failure to yield the right of way and one to distracted driving. The remaining collisions had no identified major contributing factor, the spokesperson said. ‘Our family is shattered,’ says victim’s aunt Landyn’s aunt, Crystal Cameron of Stonewall, has also issued calls for change to the intersection. In an open letter to Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Lisa Naylor and shared with CTV News, she asked for rumble strip repairs, temporary flashing lights and a commitment to permanent traffic signals at the intersection. “Our family is shattered. Along with three other families. Our communities are shocked, outraged and in mourning for their losses,” Cameron wrote in an emailed statement. “I don’t want condolences. I want a commitment from the province to ensure that this intersection is changed with the utmost expediency that the transportation minister’s offices can muster.” She said her nephew, who would’ve turned 18 on Friday, was raised by his grandparents in Stony Mountain and Teulon in Manitoba’s Interlake region. “His charisma, empathy and willfulness had no bounds,” she wrote, describing him as big-hearted and someone who faced challenges as an infant and stigma as a result in childhood. ‘They were all going to be… everything they could. Lifetimes of possibilities ahead of them. Now they are just cherished memories.” Guzzi described Maya as “a very warm soul” who “always lit up the room when she would come into it,” and said she had a close bond with his wife. ‘We’re going to take those actions’: Premier Premier Wab Kinew addressed the crash Wednesday during an unrelated news conference, saying he intends to have safety changes made at the intersection. “When you see the loss of these beautiful young lives, any parent, any Manitoban, feels a sense of loss,” Kinew said. “On behalf of the whole province, I send my condolences to these families. I did so directly, earlier today, and I heard some of the parents’ suggestions for how we can make this safer for everybody.” “I committed to them that we’re going to take those actions — both stuff that we can do relatively quickly and some longer-term fixes as well,” he said. A provincial spokesperson said Manitoba Transportation and Infrastructure has deployed staff to review the intersection and is starting work to make it safer as soon as possible. “This will include the rehabilitation and installation of rumble strips, painting the pavement markings, and installing flashing beacons on the stop signs,” the statement reads in part. “We will continue to review the intersection while we await the findings of the RCMP investigation, and will make any additional changes that will make our highways safer.” Guzzi said he and a friend plan to place a lantern at the crash site, where several bouquets of flowers could already be seen earlier this week. “We’re going to put a lantern there so that the kids always have light, and there’s always a light on, and they know that they’re safe.” With files from CTV’s Danton Unger
