Head-on crash kills Royal Canoe bassist, partner in western Manitoba on Canada Day

The bassist in Winnipeg indie-pop band Royal Canoe and his partner died on Canada Day after the vehicle they were in was struck along a highway in western Manitoba, RCMP say.

Brendan Berg and his partner,  Olivia Michalczuk, died Tuesday, Royal Canoe said in a statement on Instagram. Berg would have turned 43 Wednesday, the band said. Michalczuk was 31.

"We are all in a state of shock trying to process this tragic news. Brendan was the kindest, sweetest man you could ever know, and his passing has left an enormous and sudden hole in the lives of everyone who knew him," the band stated on Instagram.

In a statement, Manitoba RCMP said they responded to a head-on collision at about 3:30 p.m. on Canada Day on Highway 10, about three kilometres north of Bowsman, a community north of Duck Mountain Provincial Park. The site of the accident was approximately 280 kilometres northwest of Brandon.

The two vehicles were in a ditch and one was overturned when police got there. Paramedics and firefighters were helping the occupants of the cars, the RCMP stated.

Investigators believe one of the vehicles was headed south on Highway 10 when it veered over the centre line and crashed into a parked vehicle sitting on the eastern edge of the highway, causing it to roll into the ditch, RCMP stated.

Berg and Michalczuk were in the vehicle that rolled over. They were both taken to hospital and later succumbed to their injuries, the Mounties said.

The driver of the other vehicle, a 36-year-old Winnipeg man, and a 29-year-old passenger from Swan River were both taken to hospital with critical injuries.

RCMP continue to investigate the crash.

Royal Canoe said in its statement Berg's positivity and considerate nature stabilized the band during 15 years of touring and recording.

"He was always the first to volunteer his time to pick up the trailer from the shop our load gear out after tour," the band said. "His generosity and selflessness were legendary."