NIPIGON, Ont. -- Two cyclists on a cross-country group tour are dead after a collision on a stretch of the Trans-Canada highway north of Lake Superior in northwestern Ontario.
Police say a group of 25 cyclists was travelling eastbound on the highway west of Nipigon, Ont., on Tuesday, when two of them were struck by an eastbound pickup truck.
The group had set out from Vancouver last month on a Tour du Canada ride.
The victims have been identified as Robert Booth, 65, and Irene Booth, 69, from (the Township of North Glengarry) a community east of Ottawa.
After hitting the two cyclists, police say the pickup truck then struck two westbound vehicles -- one a pickup truck hauling a cargo trailer, the other a tractor trailer unit.
Police say the 66-year-old driver of the eastbound pickup and his passenger, both from Austin, Texas, and the two occupants of the tractor trailer were taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.
"Our condolences go out to their families and friends," said a spokeswoman for Cycle Canada, a group that provides administrative support to the non-profit Tour du Canada.
The spokeswoman said the group was headed to Terrace Bay, Ont., on Wednesday.
