Two women and three young kids dead in separate Saskatchewan crashes

RCMP say two separate crashes within a few hours of each other on highways in northwest Saskatchewan have claimed the lives of two women and three young children.

Police say a 48-year-old woman who was driving a van, along with two boys aged 5 and 6, died when the vehicle collided with a truck early Friday afternoon on Highway 4, south of Cochin, Sask.

All were from Flying Dust First Nation.

Less than three hours later, a 29-year-old woman who was the driver of an SUV and a six-month-old boy who was also in the vehicle were pronounced dead at the scene of a crash with a motorhome on Highway 4, about seven kilometres south of Battleford.

Police say both the woman and the boy were from Red Pheasant First Nation and that their relatives have been notified.

A man and a boy who were passengers in the SUV sustained serious injuries, while a man and a woman who were in the motorhome were taken to hospital with injuries police described as non-life-threatening.

Police say they are still investigating both crashes.