A collision in southwestern Manitoba claimed the lives of a 14-year-old girl and a 17-year-old girl on Monday.
Classmates of the teens in Boissevain are reeling from the sudden deaths.
"There's a lot of hurt and a lot of pain. It's a tough situation," said Trevor Fleming, youth pastor.
Family and friends identified the girls killed as 14-year-old Atsede Hobbs of Boissevain and 17-year-old Carla Gonzalez, an exchange student from Mexico who had only been in Canada for three months.
Fleming met with Hobbs' family. He said Gonzalez was living with the family while in Canada and the two girls were close friends, who were together all the time.
The snowmobile the girls were riding on collided with a parked trailer on a farm north of Boissevain around 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 27.
Both girls were rushed to hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
At Boissevain School, the flag was at half-mast Tuesday and students were mourning the deaths.
"They're obviously sad and upset and devastated and I mean there's all the range of feelings that they're showing," said Brad White, principal of the school.
About 380 students attend the school, which includes kindergarten to Grade 12 classes.
Grief counselors have been called in to help students cope.
"They've lost two people they love and it's a situation you would never imagine," said Fleming.
"The kids need to talk and they need to know that there's somebody there that they can talk to and just know that they have that support," said White.
Arrangements are also being made to return the body of Gonzalez to her family in Mexico.
- with a report from CTV's Josh Crabb
