A 27-year-old woman is dead after a tour bus struck her while crossing a busy street in Victoria Monday morning.
The 44-year-old tour bus driver was making a left-hand turn onto Douglas Street from Humboldt Street in downtown Victoria when the bus hit the woman while she was crossing the crosswalk just after 10 a.m.
A witness, Marilyn Williams, said she saw paramedics trying to resuscitate the woman shortly after the accident.
“They were really pumping her heart, and I thought that doesn't sound very good,” said Williams.
The victim, from Victoria, died at the scene, said the Victoria Police Department.
Const. Michael Russell confirmed the pedestrian had the right of way. The four tourists riding in the Horizon Coach Line tour bus and the driver were not hurt.
A similar collision occurred at the same intersection on Feb. 18, 1999, when a tour bus hit a couple from Saskatchewan. It is unknown if the tour buses were from the same company.
Russell said that while the intersection is confusing and has many streets converging, he doesn’t see the second crash as evidence of a problematic trend at that intersection, considering the time difference between the two incidents. Alcohol is not believed to be a factor in either incident.
“I don’t know if there will be any requests of the city to change anything,” said Russell. “That will be up to the city to say.”
Douglas Street, which turns into the TransCanada Highway, was closed for the investigation. The victim’s name has not been released pending notification of next of kin.
With files from CTV Vancouver Island's Steven Andrew
