Four young lives were cut short at an uncontrolled rail crossing near Broadview and RCMP say they may not have seen the train coming.

RCMP are still investigating the cause of a horrific train crash near Broadview that killed three children from Alberta and an 18-year-old woman from Whitewood.

There were six people in the converted Ford camper van including a mother and her three children. Her 15-year-old son was driving when the crash happened. He survived but was flown to Regina hospital by STARS air ambulance. She was taken to Broadview hospital.

Two of her younger children were killed in the crash, the boy was seven and the girl was 11.

The family was from the town of Turner Valley Alberta, some people in the community say they owned a farm in the area but rented it out and only came a few times a year.

The other 11-year-old girl travelling with them was from Chestermere Alberta. The 18-year-old woman died much closer to home, she lived in Whitewood.

RCMP are still trying to figure out exactly how this happened.

"The van had been going the same direction as the train, the train was actually behind them and then they turned across in front of it because at that point on highway one the train tracks are south of number one.

The position of the tracks parallel to the road might have put the train in the driver's blind spot.

King says investigators will continue to go through the evidence they can retreive from the wreckage of the van, particularly to see who was strapped in and who wasn't.

"But given the amount of destruction to the body of the camper area it may be impossible to tell. Several people were ejected when it was hit by the train," he said.

Although the driver was young, King says at 15 in Saskatchewan he was legally allowed to drive with a learner's permit and an adult in the front seat.

He pointed out that it's not uncommon for Saskatchewan drivers to be caught off guard by a train on a rural road.

Kevin Hyrsak is a spokesperson for Canadian Pacific Railways. He says there was no lights or gates at this crossing, just reflectorized crossbucks and signs leading up to the tracks.

"Obviously our heartfelt sympathies go out to the families of those fatally injured in this incident," he said. "You never like to see any of these tragic types of incidents occur."

Edited by CJME'S Adriana Christianson with files from Trelle Burdeniuk and David Fraser