1 killed after vehicle crashes into people, building in Ottawa

Firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene of a collision that killed one older man and seriously injured three others.

Crews were called around 9:00 a.m. by police, who said a vehicle had struck a commercial building in the 500 block of Rideau Street. Once on scene, fire officials found several people had been struck by the vehicle before it plowed into the building.

Immediately, they started treating and assessing the patients and continued helping paramedics perform life-saving efforts on the way to the hospital.

Ottawa paramedics told CityNews in an email that four pedestrians and the driver of the vehicle were taken to hospital.

One man in his 70s sustained critical life-threatening injuries and was taken to hospital in critical condition with ongoing resuscitation, it reads. Officials confirmed that he has since died of his injuries.

Two men, who were also pedestrians, sustained critical injuries and were taken to hospital by paramedics in critical condition.

A woman, also a pedestrian, had non-life-threatening injuries and was sent to hospital in stable condition.

The SUV driver has non-life-threatening injuries and was transported in stable condition.

Witnesses heard a loud crash

Feras Jarmans, an employee of a nearby shawarma restaurant, told The Canadian Press he heard the loud crash of the SUV colliding with the building, and watched as the driver left the vehicle visibly shaken.

“He got on the ground and he just starts crying” Jarmans said. “In three or four minutes police came, and they closed the street for the investigation.”

Ottawa police constable Fern John-Simon said that they need to look at a lot of factors of the crash.

“There is a lot of work that needs to be done to determine the cause, if weather conditions or impairment, all of that,” she said.

Nick DeFazio, public information officer with Ottawa fire, said that the building sustained significant damage. The structural collapse team responded and assessed the situation, saying the building will need shoring.

Officials decided that the building was not an immediate danger to the public, so the structural collapse team will be called back to the area after police are finished with their investigation.

The building is a drop-in centre run by Capital City Mission.