5 dead, 1 critically injured after Highway 101 crash near Falmouth

RCMP say five people are dead and one person is in critical condition after a crash Saturday night on Highway 101 in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley.

Staff Sgt. Maj. Deepak Prasad said two vehicles were travelling eastbound near Falmouth on a twinned section of the highway between exits 7 and 8 when they collided around 11:12 p.m. AT.

Prasad said the two people in a Honda Civic died — a 43-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman — both from Falmouth.

He said three people in the Nissan Sentra died. A 45-year-old woman from Oxford, N.S., and a 58-year-old man from Nappan, N.S., were declared dead at the scene. A 50-year-old male passenger from Oxford was taken to hospital and later declared dead.

Prasad said a 29-year-old male passenger from B.C. was airlifted to hospital and is in critical condition.

Abraham Zebian, the mayor of West Hants Regional Municipality, said he found out about the accident after hearing sirens. 

He said losing so many people in a collision is a tragedy. 

"We've lost two people from our community, that were part of our community, and others from the province as well," said Zebian. "It's tragic. You never want to see anything like that happen." 

It's unclear what led to the crash.

Prasad said police are asking for witnesses who haven't spoken to them or people with dashcam footage to come forward. The West Hants RCMP detachment can be reached at 902-798-2207.

The eastbound lanes in the area were closed for several hours after the accident, but have since reopened.