American Tourist Family of 3 Killed in Scottish Highlands Car Crash

Shafiq Najib
·1 min read
UNITED KINGDOM - DECEMBER 21: A ScotRail Class 170, photographed in July 2002, crosses the overbridge that carries the Highland main line over the B8079 near Calvine. The B8079 was formerly the route of the A9 from Calvine to Killecrankie. The A9 was upgraded during the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, but it follows essentially the same route, except where it skirts the towns and villages. Today the old A9 is a quiet back road and is used by local traffic. It also forms part of the approved route north for the Sustrans flagship project, the National Cycle Network. So far, the project has created 16,000km (9.900 miles) of signed cycle routes throughout the UK; about 70 per cent of the network is on previously existing, mostly quiet roads. The Highland Main Line is 190 km (118 miles) long and runs through the Scottish Highlands linking a series of small towns and villages with Perth at one end and Inverness at the other. Train services between Inverness and Edinburgh, Glasgow and London use the line. At Inverness the line connects with the Far North Line, the Aberdeen-Inverness Line and services on the Kyle of Lochalsh Line. Much of the Highland Main Line is single track, and trains coming in opposite directions are often timed to arrive at stations at the same time, where short stretches of double track permit them to pass. Journey times between Inverness and Edinburgh or Glasgow are approximately four hours. The vast majority of the line was built and operated by the Highland Railway with a small section of the line between Perth and Stanley built by the Scottish Midland Junction Railway, amalgamated with the Aberdeen Railway to become the Scottish North Eastern Railway in 1856, and then absorbed by the Caledonian Railway in 1866. Originally, the line between Inverness and Perth went via Forres, but the Inverness and Aviemore Direct Railway was opened in 1898 to allow for a more direct routeing. (Photo by National Railway Museum/SSPL/Getty Images)

National Railway Museum/SSPL/Getty

A family of three American tourists lost their lives following a crash involving a car and a truck in the Scottish Highlands earlier this month.

The tragedy occurred on Aug. 10, at the A9 junction near a town called Newtonmore in Scotland, PEOPLE confirmed.

Police Scotland identified the victims in the incident as Kathryn Bastion-Strong, 46, her brother Jared Bastion, 45, and their mother, Mary-Lou Mauch, 75.

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Kathryn, the driver of the vehicle, died four days after being airlifted to a hospital in critical condition; meanwhile, Jared and Mary were pronounced dead at the scene. Officials added the 59-year-old truck driver was uninjured during the crash.

Sgt. Alasdair Mackay of Police Scotland expressed his condolences in a statement to PEOPLE after announcing the news.

"Our thoughts remain with the family and friends of those who have died at what is a very difficult time for all," he said.

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A GoFundMe page has since been established to support the family financially. On the fundraising site, Jared was described as "a devoted father who loved his boys" and "a true friend to many."

"Jared had a lot more life to live and was taken from us far too soon," the statement added. "While all who loved him will feel this significant and profound loss, we hope that this will help ease some of the financial burdens so that his boys and their mother can focus on grieving and healing during this challenging time."