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Teenage snowmobiler dies after hitting tree

BY Michele Lawson, STAFF February 05, 2010 14:02

BARRIE - A Barrie youth is dead after responding to a call from help Thursday evening when his snowmobile left the trail and hit a tree. His 25-year-old passenger suffered a broken leg.

Brandon Downes, 17, had picked up the other man (an Oro-Medonte resident) who had been stranded when his snowmobile broke down on a groomed trail just east of the city in Springwater Township, according to OPP Const. Mark Kinney.

Kinney said Downes was one of several people who received the call seeking assistance.
Members of the OPP Huronia West Detachment, Barrie Police, Barrie Fire and the Simcoe County Paramedic Service were dispatched just after 9 p.m. to an Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Club trail area northwest of the intersection of Miller Drive and Edgehill Road. Both the youth and the man were taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital (RVH), where the teen was pronounced dead.

A post-mortem is scheduled for Friday at the RVH. Kinney said he could not speculate on whether factors such as speed or alcohol played a part in the accident until the autopsy is complete.

The OPP’s Central Region Technical Traffic Collision Investigation Unit is still looking into the cause of the accident.

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