The Town of Ste. Anne is in shock after a 12-year-old girl was hit by a train and tragically killed near the Ste. Anne Hotel shortly before 5 p.m. Friday.

That according to the Mayor of Ste. Anne Richard Pelletier. He says in a small town like Ste. Anne the residents are very close to one another and an incident like this has an effect on everyone.

Pedestrian crossing where the collision occured"It is a small town so everybody knows a lot of people and it is definitely a thing that we never want to happen. I think a lot of people are keeping these people in their prayers and are willing to help this family to get through this event. It is hard to express how sad this is."

Pelletier says the 12-year-old girl was wearing headphones at the time of the collision and would not have been able to hear the train coming. He notes the incident is under investigation and the town will wait for further details.

"We will know more coming up. As the Town of Ste. Anne, we will definitely look at it when we know what really happened and work hard to prevent this from happening again. If we need to do some improvement or modification to the crossing we are going to look at it really seriously again."

The federal Minister of Transport Marc Garneau released a statement on Friday offering his condolences.

"It is with great sadness that I learned of the accident involving a young person at a railway crossing in Ste. Anne, southeast of Winnipeg. I would like to offer my heartfelt sympathies and prayers to the family and friends affected by this terrible accident."

Garneau says rail safety remains a top priority and his officials will work closely with CN Rail, the Town of Ste. Anne, and law enforcement officials to determine the cause of this tragic accident. He adds any safety deficiencies identified through investigation or Transport Canada’s inspections will be addressed immediately.

Read more: Young Girl Killed By Train In Ste. Anne