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Elderly pedestrian killed at downtown intersection |
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Written by Gerald Gauthier
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Friday, October 16 2009, 9:59 PM |
An 86-year-old Lethbridge woman died Friday afternoon after she was struck by a 36-foot motorhome as she attempted to walk across a busy southside intersection.
The incident occurred at about 2:20 p.m. as the unnamed victim was attempting to cross Scenic Drive South, using a walker as she headed east along 5 Avenue South. It was the city’s first traffic fatality this year.
According to a female witness who declined to be named, the woman stepped off the intersection’s northwest curb into the southbound lane only moments before a large southbound motorhome, driven by a 49-year-old Lethbridge resident, began to advance through the crosswalk on a green light.
Because the woman was so close to the front of the motorhome, she may not have been visible to the man perched high up in the driver’s seat, she said.
The witness, who was badly shaken by the incident, described seeing the frail victim pounding on the front hood of the motorhome in a vain attempt to get the driver’s attention in the brief seconds before it advanced over her. It appeared the victim was dragged about 10 metres, from the crosswalk to the middle of the intersection.
A pair of empty sandals and a red sweater lay in the intersection after emergency personnel moved the woman’s body into a waiting ambulance. Her walker was still intact and bore little visible evidence of the collision.
An unnamed staff member from a nearby seniors facility confirmed the woman’s identity for police. The victim’s name was still being withheld at press time pending notification of her family members.
A male witness was also visibly shaken as he recounted the incident to police at the scene. He declined to speak to The Herald.
Police were releasing few details Friday evening pending the outcome of their investigation.
Southbound traffic was diverted from the intersection for several hours afterward while Lethbridge regional police collision analysts gathered evidence from the scene. Several minor collisions occurred as a result of traffic congestion which occurred during the closure of the southbound lanes between 4 Avenue South and 5 Avenue South.
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