Girl, 5, dead after being pinned between 2 vehicles near St. Raphael Catholic School
TCDSB says there will be extra support for students on Tuesday
A five-year-old girl is dead after being struck by a vehicle in the pickup area near St. Raphael Catholic School on Monday afternoon, Toronto police say.
The incident occurred on Gade Drive in the Keele Street and Wilson Avenue area around 4 p.m. when the child was pinned between two vehicles, says Sgt. Duncan Miller. Police originally told CBC Toronto the child was six.
"The father was putting his daughter into the Mercedes Benz when a Hyundai vehicle without a driver somehow moved into gear and collided with the SUV," Miller said.
The child was taken to Sickkids hospital on an emergency run after being struck. She died shortly after.
While police say they haven't spoken to the owner of the Hyundai, they did say the vehicle belonged to a parent who was also at the schoolyard picking up a child.
Toronto Catholic District School Board communications manager Emmy Milne said the board's thoughts and prayers are with the family but that their focus is also on making sure students at the school get counselling after the incident.
"There will be extra support at the school because we do know that it happened around dismissal time," she said.
"Some students would have seen what happened so we want to make sure that there are resources in place for those children."
Roads have been closed in the area while police continue their investigation.