Calgary man killed in head-on crash near Fort McMurray

A 23-year-old Calgary man died Friday morning when his car collided head-on with a tanker truck on Highway 63 north of Fort McMurray.

John Kinnon McDonald was killed after being thrown fromhis vehicle in the crash, which occurred shortly after 1 a.m., RCMP said.

The driver of the tanker truck escaped serious injury.

The highway, which links the Edmonton area to the oilsands plants north of Fort McMurray, has become infamous because of the high number of injuries and deaths on the narrow but busy roadway.

People in the area have been lobbying for years to get Highway 63, the main link between Edmonton and the oilsands, widened to four lanes.

There were more than 1,000 crashes on the highway between 2001 and 2005, killing 25 people and injuring 257 others.

Work to twin the first 16 kilometresbegan in 2007.

Teen killed in central Alberta crash

Police incentral Alberta are also investigating a fatal collision Thursday evening east of Red Deer thatkilled a teenage girl.

The 14-year-old passenger died when her car was hit head-on by a pickup truck on Highway 595 just east of Delburne, said Red Deer RCMP.

The female driver of the car was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The male driver of the truck and male passenger fled the scene and were apprehended later near the crash site, police said.

The name of the dead girl is not being released at the request of her family.