Beloved coach and four schoolgirls killed in horror crash on way home from softball tournament in Canada [Video]

10:57 EDT 26 May 2025, updated 12:06 EDT 26 May 2025

A beloved coach and four schoolgirls tragically died in a horror crash involving a tractor-trailer while on their way home from a softball tournament in Canada. 

The fatal collision occurred Friday around 4.30pm while Matt Eckert, 33, a coach and teacher at Walkerton District Community School, and four teenage girls, Olivia Rourke, Rowan McLeod, Kaydance Ford, and Danica Baker were traveling back home to Walkerton – a town in Ontario.

They were headed back after the 27th annual Girls’ High School Invitational Slo-Pitch Tournament in Dorchester when their SUV crashed into the tractor, according to police. 

Their vehicle was then struck by a second SUV, according to the Ontario Provincial Police. Authorities are still investigating what caused the horrific accident. 

Two 17-year-old girls and a 16-year-old died at the scene, while another 16-year-old and Eckert were taken to the hospital where they later died of their injuries, police said. 

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