B.C. hockey player among 3 teens killed in Surrey crash

Three teenage boys, including a player with the Junior A Langley Rivermen Hockey Club, were killed after a vehicle crashed into a tree in Surrey, B.C., early Saturday morning. 

The club confirmed that second-year player Ronin Sharma, 16, is among the dead. 

"Today, we lost a young man who made each and every one of our lives better as well as brighter every day he came to play the game we all love," the team said in a statement.

In an interview, Surrey RCMP Cpl. Vanessa Munn said the victims were 16 and 17 years old. 

"This is just a tragedy, and even more tragic being that it involved three youths," Munn said. "I'm sure the community as a whole is going to feel a great sense of loss."

The Langley Rivermen are members of the Mainland Division of the British Columbia Hockey League.

On Twitter, Western Elite Hockey Prospects expressed its "heartfelt condolences" to the teens, stating there are "no words of comfort that can be given" in the tragedy and adding, "Know that the hockey community is here for you all."

Tali Campbell, the general manager of the Rivermen's archrival Coquitlam Express, said the hockey community had united around the death of the three young men.

"We're competitors on the ice and we'll battle through three periods. But when that final buzzer goes, we're a family," he told CBC News.

Officers say they responded to reports of a crash on 104th Avenue near Highway 1 in the Fraser Heights neighbourhood at around 3 a.m. PT. 

Cause of crash not yet known

RCMP and emergency responders determined all three in the vehicle were dead. 

Earlier in the day, Munn said it was too early to determine the cause of the single-vehicle crash. 

Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum said in a statement Saturday that city council sends its "deepest and heartfelt condolences to the families."

Police are asking witnesses to contact Surrey RCMP at 604-599-0502 or Crime Stoppers, if they wish to remain anonymous, at 1-800-222-8477 or www.solvecrime.ca.