3 dead in related crashes on highway near Grand Rapids, Man.

Two women and a man are dead and six others are injured after two crashes in Manitoba, near the northwestern shore of Lake Winnipeg.

RCMP officers were patrolling Highway 6 around 3:45 p.m. Monday when they came across a head-on crash between an SUV and a minivan approximately 40 kilometres south of Grand Rapids.

Officers immediately saw that one person was dead and others were seriously injured, a news release from the RCMP said.

Emergency crews from Grand Rapids then rushed to the scene.

A 23-year-old woman in the front passenger side of the SUV was pronounced dead, while two other passengers and the 23-year-old man who was driving had non-life threatening injuries.

A 42-year-old woman in the front passenger side of the minivan — which was being operated as a handivan — was rushed to the Grand Rapids nursing station, where she died.

Another passenger and the 54-year-old man who was driving the van had non-life-threatening injuries.

RCMP believe the SUV crossed the centre line into the minivan's path, but the investigation is ongoing and no charges have been laid at this time.

The highway was closed from approximately 4 p.m. until 11 p.m. When it reopened, a northbound SUV that had been waiting would not start, because its battery had drained, RCMP said.

Around 11:30 p.m., a pickup truck turned around to help, pulling up behind the SUV.  Everyone in both vehicles had exited and they were standing at the roadside when a van pulling a loaded trailer crashed into the back of the pickup, police said.

The pickup was pushed into the SUV, which then hit two of the people standing nearby. A 33-year-old man was killed and a 36-year-old man suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Forensic collision reconstructionists are assisting with both investigations, RCMP said.