A nine-year-old girl has died after she was hit by a transit bus at a crosswalk in Abbotsford Friday morning, transportation officials say.
The collision happened just before 8:20 a.m. at South Fraser Way and Hill-Tout Street. Emergency crews arrived on scene to find the girl seriously injured. She was transported to hospital where she died of her injuries.
"This is something that’s really tough on everyone involved and our hearts and our thoughts are with her family and friends at this time," said BC Transit spokesperson Jonathon Dyck.
"We’re also extending our thoughts to the driver and any other witnesses that may have seen the incident."
The details surrounding the collision remain unclear, but the Abbotsford School District confirmed in a statement Friday that the crossing guard who usually works at the intersection was not there at the time.
"We are currently working with Abbotsford Community Services to understand the circumstances," the school board said.
The district also confirmed that the child was a student at Ten-Broeck Elementary School.
"Our district's critical incident response team has been deployed for both students and staff to ensure that our school community has the appropriate supports in place, not only for today but also for the days ahead," the statement said.
Abbotsford police say it’s too soon to say what caused the collision, but investigators say bad weather and poor visibility may have been factors.
“At that time of morning, it was still quite dark,” Sgt. Judy Bird told the Canadian Press. “As well our weather conditions were very rainy, so there were some visibility issues.”
Dyck said his organization is co-operating fully with the Abbotsford Police Department’s investigation. BC Transit will also conduct an internal investigation.
"Safety is our top priority, and anytime there’s an incident, we take it seriously and follow up and we’ll do that in this incident as well," he said.
With files from CTV Vancouver's Penny Daflos and The Canadian Press
