Terribly sad news, especially of 2 brothers; I hate hearing stuff like this after guys get home.
RIP!
RIP!
2 soldiers killed in Quebec highway crash
Last Updated: Tuesday, July 22, 2008 | 6:02 PM ET Comments44Recommend31
CBC News
A small Quebec town is in mourning after two brothers — both Canadian soldiers recently back from Afghanistan — died in a car crash Tuesday.
Éric and Jonathan Leduc were killed on Highway 40 outside Quebec City early Tuesday morning.
Jonathan, left, and Éric Leduc were killed in a car crash Tuesday morning. Both were Canadian soldiers who recently returned from Afghanistan.
Police said speed was a factor in the crash, which happened after their vehicle lost a tire and crashed into a ditch.
Éric Leduc, 25, had just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan in March after being deployed last summer. He had served in the armed forces for five years.
Jonathan Leduc, 22, served a nine-month stint in Afghanistan in 2007.
Their cousin Sébastien Lépine said the news was a blow to the brothers' family and community.
"It's a lot of emotion for the family, losing two children at once — they're trying to absorb it all," he told CBC News in a French interview.
"They were both people who were very passionate about their jobs, about sports, who loved life in general and took advantage of it."
The Leducs were from Ste-Anne-de-la-Pérade, a community of 2,200 west of Quebec City best-known for its winter tommy cod fishing season.
Lépine said Jonathan had long-term plans to become a bodyguard, and Éric wanted to improve his English.
They are survived by their 24-year-old sister Mélissa.
The Leducs were the most recent Quebecers killed on the road since the start of the province's annual summer construction holiday, which police say has been more deadly than in previous years.
Fourteen people in total have been killed in traffic accidents since the holiday started last Friday.
