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OTTAWA — A man and a woman were killed in a freak accident in Quebec, not far from Ottawa, on Monday night when another car struck a bear, causing the animal to crash into the victims’ vehicle.

Police said an initial vehicle struck the black bear near Luskville, Que., sending the animal flying through the air.

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It slammed into the front windshield of a second vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, which had been travelling in the opposite direction.

The 300-pound bear crashed through the windshield, striking a 25-year-old Ottawa woman and a 40-year-old man from Gatineau, Que., then smashed through and out the back windshield.

The man and woman were killed on impact. Another passenger suffered minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital.

Police Const. Martin Fournel said the speed limit in the area is 90 kilometres an hour. It’s not known how fast the vehicle was travelling.

Aside from the freakish nature of the accident, Fournel said car-bear collisions are not common.

“The Gatineau Park is nearby,” he said, “(But) it’s really rare that we have accidents with bears . . . accidents with deer, we have lots.”

Two people in the first vehicle were unharmed.

The names of the victims were not released.

The bear died.

Ottawa Citizen