'Double tragedy': Friends mourn 2 recent grads' deaths after crash

Two youngwomen who wereclosefriends and recent graduates of local high schools died in a collisionon the Red Hill Valley Parkway late Tuesday evening, prompting special prayers at their schools and messages of grief and support for their families on social media.

"Just doesn't seem real, or right," one person wrote on a Facebookphoto of the pair.

• Funerals for Red Hill crash victims set for Monday and Tuesday

A third woman was injured in the two-vehicle crash that occurred on the parkway justnorth ofGreenhillAvenuearound 11:30 p.m. Tuesday. Shehas been treated for her injuries and released from hospital, police said.

Olivia Smosarski, a 2013 graduate of Bishop TonnosCatholic Secondary School, and Jordyn Hastings, a 2013 graduate ofSt. Thomas More Catholic Secondary,died in the crash, the schools' principals confirmed.

"We're hurting," said Susanna Fortino-Bozzo, prinicipal at St. Thomas More. "Today has been a very difficult, very challenging day."

Fortino-Bozzo said the loss of the friends was a "double tragedy" for the two schools. Many students knew one or both of them, she said.

Both Hastings and Smosarski had younger siblings that also attended the schools. Hastings' sister graduated last year from St. Thomas More, andSmosarski'syounger siblingsattend Bishop TonnosGabby in Grade 11 and Max in Grade 10.

"Shewas a beautiful girl,in and out, avibrant spirit in our building," Bishop Tonnosprincipal FrankCiancone said of Smosarski.

Ciancone said the mood in the school was subdued Wednesday after students learned the two friends were killed in thecrash.

"These students don't even know [Olivia],but they felt the loss of a fellow Titan," Ciancone said. "Once they know that someone has passed, that once upon a time she walked the halls of BT, they're sharing in the grief with the family."

It's unclear whether it wasSmosarski or Hastings driving a 2007 Mazda northbound on the Red Hill Valley Parkway "when the vehicle drove across the grass median and into the southbound lanes," according to Hamilton Police. The Mazda was then struck by a southbound 2011 Honda minivan, police said.

Paramedics Wednesday said a 28-year-old woman from the minivan was transported from the scene and taken to hospital for treatment before being released Wednesday.

Smosarski and Hastingswere pronounced dead at the scene.

The road was closed overnight and police re-opened it Wednesday morning. Police officers continue to investigate.

Police asked witnesses to contact Detective-Cst. Mathew Hewko at 905.546.4755.

kelly.bennett@cbc.ca| @kellyrbennett