Montreal’s Hasidic Jewish community is mourning the loss of an 11-year-old boy after he was hit and pinned under a truck in the city’s Plateau-Mont-Royal borough.
Mayer Feig, a leader in the tight-knit community, was among those who attended the funeral service Tuesday morning. He said the boy was on his way to Dollarama to buy a lunch box for school when he was killed.
“It’s a tragedy beyond belief,” Feig said.
Montreal police were called to the collision around 7:30 p.m. Monday at the corner of Parc and Bernard avenues in the Mile End neighbourhood.
The driver was heading southbound on Parc Avenue, an artery that cuts through the area, when he turned right on Bernard and the child was caught underneath the truck, according to police.
“He was trapped underneath the truck, so then the child was transported to hospital while in critical condition and unfortunately the child died of his injuries,” police said.
Paramedics were taking care of the boy when police officers arrived at the rain-drenched scene. Feig works as a volunteer paramedic in the area and had to inform the victim’s parents.
“I know the family. Unfortunately, I was the one who had to go notify them,” Feig said. “It was very, very, very tough for me to do.”
Feig didn’t personally know the victim, but he says the family is well established in the community. His parents and siblings, of which there at least eight, are “all grief stricken beyond belief.”Police say the truck driver, a 28-year-old man, was not injured in the collision. No arrests have been made as of Tuesday, but the investigation is ongoing.
Investigators also met with witnesses and they were looking for footage from surveillance cameras in the area. A safety perimeter at the scene was lifted.
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante offered her condolences to the victim’s family, saying they are going through a “terrible ordeal.”“Please drive carefully. Protecting the most vulnerable on the road is everyone’s business,” Plante wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.