Youth airlifted after being struck, trapped under LRT train in Kitchener
A youth has been airlifted to hospital in Hamilton with life-threatening injuries after being hit by an LRT train in Kitchener.
The crash happened just after 2:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute on Charles Street East.
Officials at the site of an LRT crash involving a pedestrian in Kitchener on March 8. (Krista Simpson/CTV News Kitchener)
The Kitchener Fire Department was the first emergency medical service on scene. Firefighters found a male trapped under the LRT train when they arrived.
“Paramedic services provided patient care while the Kitchener Fire Department lifted the train to allow extrication of the male,” Bethany Rowland, director of corporate communications and marketing at the City of Kitchener told CTV News in an email. “The patient was transferred by paramedic service to an air ambulance where he was taken to hospital.”
A spokesperson for Ornge Air Ambulance told CTV News one pediatric patient was transported to Hamilton General with critical injuries.
Waterloo regional police said the train was travelling eastbound towards Stirling Avenue when the pedestrian was hit.
“Emergency services, including Kitchener fire and EMS, took all possible opportunity to get the male extracted from the vehicle and transported to hospital,” said Waterloo regional police Staff Sgt. Scott Griffiths.
Police would not say if the victim was a student, but the crash happened in front of Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute, which lets out shortly before 2:30 p.m.
Police said it is still early in the investigation, and there’s no word on possible charges yet.
Police have closed Charles Street between Cedar Street and Stirling Avenue.
One person was airlifted to hospital after a crash involving an LRT in Kitchener. (Mubarika Ahmed)
There is no indication of when the roadway will be reopened.
Mubarika Ahmed was picking up her son from school when she saw the emergency response.
"It was very very terrifying, no matter whose child it is, it’s somebody’s child and I really hope I pray to God may he be feeling well and he’ll get over this, it is very terrifying." Ahmed said.
Ahmed said she’s been worried about this area for some time and wants to see changes.
CTV Kitchener has reported on a total of 24 crashes involving LRT trains since the service began operating in May 2019. Locations where more than one crash happened, plus the location of a fatal collision in January 2020 are shown on this map. (CTV Kitchener)
TRANSIT IMPACTED
Grand River Transit (GRT) said LRT trains stopped running between Grand River Hospital Station and Mill Station due to the collision, but have since resumed operations.
Service between Block Line and Mill was down to only one track in both directions.
The transit agency said replacement shuttle buses ran between Grand River Hospital Station and Mill Station.
"At approximately 2:40 p.m., there was a collision involving an individual and LRT light rail near Cameron Heights High School. ION light rail is down from Grand River Hospital to Mill Station and bus bridging has started between the impacted stations. WRPS are investigating the incident," Scott Miller Cressman, Grand River Transit communications specialist said in an email.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.