Girl, 7, dies after hit-and-run in school zone in Montreal's Ville-Marie borough
After hours in hospital in critical condition, the young victim has died
A 7-year-old girl has died after she was hit by a car Tuesday morning in a school zone in the Ville-Marie borough, east of downtown.
According to witnesses, the victim was hit by a car around 8 a.m. near the intersection of Parthenais and de Rouen streets, about 100 metres from an elementary school.
Police say the driver of the vehicle drove away immediately, leaving the child seriously injured on the road. Several children and teenagers watched helplessly at the scene.
The girl was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.
Montreal police confirmed her death at around 5:45 p.m. They said a 40-year-old man is being questioned, but there are still no suspects.
Jean-Nicolas Aubé, a spokesperson for the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'Île-de-Montréal said three nurses and a resident doctor at a nearby health and social services centre — known in French as a CLSC — brought out medical equipment and provided first aid to the victim while waiting for paramedics.
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"These people are trained to act whenever there are these kinds of situations, and that's exactly what they did," Aubé said. "It's important to say thank you for what they did. Of course, they're going to say it's their job, but still it's important to say."
He says psychological support is available for all health personnel that need it.
"Everyone inside the building is affected by [the incident]," he said.
'A brutal reminder'
François Desaulniers has lived in the neighbourhood for a decade and is a member of a citizens' group that is pushing to make the area safer for pedestrians.
He says drivers often use de Rouen, one of the streets at the intersection where the collision happened, as a shortcut.
"A lot of drivers do not want to go through or are trying to avoid Sherbrooke Street," Desaulniers said. "There are two schools, there's a park, there are a lot of kids and people are driving fast."
Sophie Mauzerolle, the member of Montreal's executive committee who is in charge of mobility and transportation, is also the city councillor for the district in which the child was hit.
Mauzerolle said the city sends out a team to work with Montreal police and borough officials to evaluate the potential dangers at an intersection whenever there is a deadly collision or one that causes serious injury.
She said the city will implement any recommendations that group puts forward.
Mauzerolle called the collision a "brutal reminder" of the need for drivers to be careful.
"We all have a responsibility, when we're on the road, to circulate by taking into consideration that there are other users," Mauzerolle said.
With files from Valeria Cori-Manocchio and Radio-Canada