An 11-year-old boy was killed after being hit by a truck Monday night at a Mile End intersection in the borough of Plateau-Mont-Royal.
The incident happened at the corner of Parc and Bernard Aves. around 7:30 p.m.
A preliminary investigation by police indicates the truck was travelling south on Parc Ave. when it turned right onto Bernard Ave., striking the child, who was crossing the street also toward the south.
The child was trapped under the truck and suffered critical injuries. He was declared dead in a hospital at 10 p.m.
The 28-year-old driver of the truck was uninjured and stayed on the scene.
Malka Moskowitz told The Gazette she witnessed the aftermath of the incident.
“I came down, they were doing CPR on the kid,” she said.
Moskowitz, who is Hasidic, said the boy also belonged to her community. “I know his mother,” she said.
She said she found the intersection to be generally safe.
“My nine-year-old crosses all the time to go to Cheskies,” Moskowitz said, referring to the nearby bakery.
Another woman, who declined to give her name, told The Gazette she had also witnessed the aftermath of the incident. She said she had seen the boy stuck underneath the wheel of a Metro grocery truck.
The woman added that she lives in the area and finds the intersection dangerous. She said she wouldn’t let her 10-year-old child cross it alone.
Several passersby agreed the intersection is dangerous for pedestrians.
“People are very impatient. People drive very quickly. They don’t respect the signals,” said Raphael Lanouette, who was pushing a stroller.
As if to illustrate his point, a truck turned right behind him, ignoring the fact that the light had turned red.
“There are a lot of cars who break the do not turn on red” rule at the intersection, Elyssa Baker said. “People speed through to run through reds and yellows all the time. (…) You always have to be hypervigilant.”
“I have seen moments when there were close calls” at the intersection, Becky Patrick said. “There’s a lot of children in this neighbourhood,” she added.
“The cars are coming when people are crossing,” Eli Eisenbach told The Gazette.
Parc Ave. is a busy three-lane artery road with a centre lane that switches direction with the flow of traffic. Bernard Ave. is relatively calmer, with two lanes of traffic.
The intersection of the two streets has an advance signal phase for pedestrians, with cars only permitted to go straight for the first seconds of the pedestrian signal.
A bouquet of flowers could be seen fastened to a pole near the scene.
A police officer across from the intersection told The Gazette he was monitoring driver behaviour at the intersection. The officer stopped talking mid-sentence and turned on his sirens — a car had just run through a red light. The officer sped around the corner to pull the driver over.
“This is the corner I find myself in every day — my family — my children,” Jimmy Zoubris, adviser to Mayor Valérie Plante, said on X Monday night. “It’s just terrible — I have no words.”
The Gazette caught up with Zoubris at his printing shop on Parc Ave., less than a block away from the scene.
“It’s my corner,” he said. “I know the family.”
A funeral for the child was scheduled for Tuesday morning, Zoubris said.
Zoubris said he had talked to Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante earlier Tuesday morning about the incident.
He said he would like to see better visibility at the intersection, adding that Monday evening was rainy and dark.
“Any time there’s any accident on any of our streets, it’s a chance for us to look and say, ‘hey, is there something we can improve?’” But for now, he said he was focused on the family of the child who died.
Plante addressed the death Tuesday morning on X, posting: “Another death on our streets last night. An 11-year-old child this time. I share my sorrow with his family, who are going through a terrible ordeal. Please drive carefully. Protecting the most vulnerable on the road is everyone’s business.”
Police are unsure of who had the right of way, Montreal police spokesperson Jean-Pierre Brabant said. He said the investigation will seek to determine who had a green light at the time.
No criminal charges have been made for now, Brabant said.
This incident is Montreal’s 23rd fatal road incident this year and the 15th in which a pedestrian has been killed.
In 2016, a truck at the same intersection killed a 66-year old female pedestrian.
With files from La Presse Canadienne.