Two pedestrians have been killed in a crash at a Toronto intersection, in a collision that has left a neighborhood shaken and a major roadway shut down for hours. According to CBC News, the two people, a man and a woman both in their 60s, were struck at Birchmount and Lawrence and were pronounced dead at the scene, despite the efforts of paramedics who tried to save them.
The crash involved two vehicles at the intersection. According to the account, one was a black SUV that was carrying three people, two women in their 60s and a six-year-old child, while the other was a gray car being driven by a woman. It is those two vehicles that investigators are now focused on as they try to establish exactly what happened in the moments before the pedestrians were hit.
The people inside the vehicles were hurt but survived. According to CBC News, all four of them, the three women and the six-year-old girl, were taken to hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. The two pedestrians who were struck, however, could not be saved, and were pronounced dead at the scene as emergency crews worked to respond.
In the moments after the collision, a bystander stepped in to help. According to the account, a civilian good Samaritan ran over to the black SUV and assisted police in getting the six-year-old girl and the female driver out of the vehicle, escorting them to safety. Paramedics then arrived and attempted life-saving measures for those who had been struck.
The circumstances of the crash remain unclear. According to CBC News, a heavy police presence remained at the scene, including the forensics unit and the collision reconstruction unit, as officers worked to piece together what happened between the two vehicles before the pedestrians were struck. Investigators had not yet said what led to the collision.
The scale of the investigation has forced a lengthy road closure. According to the account, Birchmount was closed as far east as Kennedy and as far west as Howden Road, and police said that because of the size of the scene and the events that had occurred, residents should expect the roadway to remain closed for at least the next several hours.
As the investigation continued, police appealed to the public for help, asking anyone with information to contact traffic services. For those living nearby, the crash was a sobering reminder of how suddenly ordinary lives can be upended, with one resident reflecting that the victims had simply been people walking about, going about their own business, and that it showed just how delicate life can be.