A man who died after being run over by a Canada Day float has been identified as a 65-year-old who was visiting from India.
Sohan Singh Sidhu, identified to CTV News by his family members, somehow fell out of the back of a pickup truck after the parade in Abbotsford, B.C.
He was run over by the trailer it was pulling, and died of his injuries. A person who had been in the back of the truck at the time said it happened quickly.
Sidhu was a father of two adult children back in India, and he'd been visiting family in the Lower Mainland since mid-April.
He was part of the Abbotsford Indo-Canadian Seniors Society Canada Day parade entry.
"It is a truly tragic scenario for us to have happen on Canada Day," said Abbotsford Police Sgt. Judy Bird.
Emergency crews were called to the scene on Gladwin Road near Simon Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. Bird said the truck appeared to have been leaving the parade area at the time.
Police will be looking into whether parade protocols were followed.
"We don't know where it was going or what the circumstances were at this time," Bird said.
"We do have investigators and analysists that are on scene reconstructing this incident."
All the occupants of the truck stayed at the scene and have been very co-operative, Bird said.
"There was all kids of emergency vehicles around – police, fire, ambulance – and we just saw somebody on the stretcher being taken into the ambulance," witness Jon Wolbers told CTV the day after the incident.
"We said a little prayer for the family and all that… It still bothers me," Abbotsford resident Brian Young said.
Sidhu's family said they're thankful for the efforts of an off-duty firefighter and nurse, along with on-duty first responders who tried to save his life at the scene.
The man's nephew lives in Abbotsford and had to call his cousins in India to tell them what happened to their father. He said they're in shock and are trying to make funeral arrangements.
"The family's upset and the community's upset too," said Khalsa Diwan Society Abbotsford secretary Jatinder Gill. He said Sidhu had been spending time at the local temple, and that his death left other members reeling.
With reports from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim and Michele Brunoro
