A 15-year-old girl and a 20-year-old man are dead following an early-morning collision Saturday on the Alaska Highway at the Hamilton Boulevard extension.

Clare Cherepak, a student at Vanier Catholic Secondary School, and Brendan Kinney, a graduate of Porter Creek Secondary School, were passengers in a car that collided with a semi-truck at about 3 a.m.

Kinney, who was sitting in the front passenger’s seat, was found dead at the scene by emergency responders.

Cherepak and the two other occupants of the vehicle, an 18-year-old male passenger and the 15-year-old female driver, whose names have not been released, were taken to Whitehorse General Hospital.

Cherepak died in hospital.

The male passenger, in critical condition, was medevaced to Vancouver General Hospital. He is in serious but stable condition.

The driver was in “fair condition” upon arrival, said hospital spokesman James Low.

She wasn’t admitted, but was treated and released same-day.

The truck driver was not injured.

Whitehorse RCMP Const. Christine Grant said today it’s not yet clear what happened, but it seems the car, a Honda Accord, was travelling north when it turned in the intersection into the path of the oncoming truck.

“That’s what I understand happened,” Grant said.

“It’s still under investigation, and the division traffic analyst attended the scene as well. His report, I expect, will clarify what exactly went on.”

Assistance from the Whitehorse Fire Department was needed to remove the occupants from the car, due to the extensive damage.

The highway was closed for at least nine hours on Saturday.

“It is with deep sadness that we mourn the sudden and tragic loss of one of our students,” Vanier principal Ryan Sikkes wrote in a statement posted on the school’s website.

“(Clare’s) smile, warmth and humour will be missed by staff and students alike.”

Sikkes could not be reached for further comment.

The Duke Road school is open this week.

Counsellors are available to speak to students until 4 p.m. today and from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Friday.

Cherepak would have started Grade 11 in September.

In an article for What’s Up Yukon posted online last winter, she wrote that she played guitar, bass guitar, and drums in one of Vanier’s rock bands.

The year prior, as a member of the school’s Social Justice Club, Cherepak walked up and down Main Street in the snow collecting change for UNICEF.

Rea Postoloski first met Cherepak in a Kindergarten class at St. Elias Community School in Haines Junction.

Postoloski was an educational assistant then, but after she became a teacher, she did her four-month practicum in Cherepak’s Grade 6 class.

“She was an awesome kid,” Postoloski said this morning. “She was bright, helpful, kind, considerate. Just a really nice kid.”

She said the Cherepak family later moved to Whitehorse, and she ran into them around town, at sporting and community events.

Cherepak had many interests.

“She loved sports,” Postoloski said. “She was very outdoorsy.

“Her mom and dad were awesome at always making sure she was very involved in environmental issues, and things like that. She certainly was on her way to becoming a steward.

“She was a wonderful young lady.”

Vanier has dedicated a wall in the front foyer to a memorial of the teen. The public is invited to attend and post messages and photos.

A Facebook memorial group, “RIP Clare Cherepak,” was created over the weekend.

Nearly 300 people have joined, posting memories of her and condolences to her family.

The Yukon Coroner’s Service identified the two deceased passengers this morning.