Toronto – Three junior hockey players, including a teenager from Alabama, were killed in a car crash Monday while traveling to practice with their Southern Alberta Mustangs teammates in Canada, according to police and the team.

A semi truck hauling gravel struck a small passenger vehicle at the intersection, according to Corporal Gina Slaney of the Royal Alberta Mounted Police.

“There are no words that can adequately express the depth of our grief,” the Southern Alberta Mustangs team said in a statement, “These young men were more than hockey players – they were teammates, sons, brothers, friends and deeply loved members of our Mustangs family and the communities we call home.”

Caden Fine, 17, an American from Birmingham, Alabama, and two of his Canadian teammates, Cameron Casorso and JJ Wright, both 18 and from British Columbia, died in the crash, the team announced on social media.

“Unfortunately, all three occupants of the passenger vehicle, two 18-year-old males living in Kamloops, BC, and a 17-year-old resident of Alabama, USA, were pronounced dead at the scene,” Slaney told CBS News in an emailed statement.

The driver of the semi-truck, a 40-year-old man, suffered minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Police said the cause of the crash is under investigation.

Fine’s passion for hockey began in 2020, according to a statement from the Birmingham Jr. Hockey team. Alabama Bulls, for whom he played between 2021 and 2023. The Bulls said Fine joined the Southern Alberta Mustangs for the 2025-2026 season.

“This is a heartbreaking day for our entire hockey community. Our deepest condolences go out to Caden’s family, friends and teammates at this unimaginable time,” the Bulls said in a statement. “Once a Jr Bull, always a Jr Bull.”

A GoFundMe page set up to raise money for Fine’s family had collected more than $10,000 in donations as of Tuesday afternoon.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney offered his condolences to the families, saying “Canadians are keeping the entire Mustang community in Southern Alberta in our thoughts as they deal with this unimaginable grief.”

In December, several hockey players between the ages of 15 and 19 were injured when a bus carrying a junior team crashed in Alberta. Two minors were transported to local hospitals, police said.

In 2018 15 people were killed and more than a dozen others were injured when a semi-truck crashed into a bus carrying junior hockey players on their way to a playoff game in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Among the dead is the son of a former NHL player, team captain, assistant coach and radio announcer.