VICTORIAVILLE, QUE. -- The octogenarian who was hit by a school bus in Victoriaville, Quebec Wednesday succumbed to her injuries during the evening at the hospital.
The identity of the victim was not immediately disclosed since all her relatives had not yet been notified.
The accident occurred on Notre-Dame St. West, around 4:45 p.m., while high school students were on their way home.
The driver of the school bus tried to avoid the lady who was crossing the street with her walker, between cars that were stopped in traffic, according to witness testimonies given to the police.
"The lady was crossing the street in a place that had no signage, no crosswalk and no traffic light," said Surete du Quebec (SQ) spokesperson Audrey-Anne Bilodeau.
"She crossed the first lane walking between two vehicles that were almost at a standstill due to traffic, but once in the second lane in the wrong direction, people did not see her exit between those two vehicles, and there was a slight impact with that school bus."
Another SQ spokesperson Catherine Bernard said earlier that the collision occurred at dusk and in foggy weather.
It seems that the driver tried everything to avoid the impact with the pedestrian but to no avail.
"She was transported to a hospital in the region in very critical condition. Unfortunately, her death was pronounced in the hours that followed," said Bilodeau.
"As for the occupants of the school bus, we are talking about young people from secondary school, no one was injured. They were transferred to another school bus and then left the scene."
The place where the accident occurred was closed to traffic until around 7:20 p.m. to allow SQ investigators to do their job.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2020.
