Transit bus hits pedestrian
A woman was flown to Vancouver Tuesday evening after she was hit by a Powell River transit bus at the corner of Joyce Avenue and Alberni Street.
The accident happened at 6:20 pm on November 22. The bus was travelling west down Alberni and turning left onto Joyce. The pedestrian, a 30-year-old female, was crossing Joyce when she was struck by the bus, according to Powell River RCMP.
Rob Southcott, BC Ambulance Service Powell River unit chief, attended the accident. “The fire department did a very quick job of lifting the bus,” he said. “She was pinned underneath it, but not entangled. She was under the middle part of the bus.”
The woman was conscious, Southcott added, and had a head injury. “She was taken quickly to Powell River General Hospital,” he said. “She was treated and airvac’ed to Vancouver. Her injuries appeared stable.”
Terry Peters, Powell River Fire Rescue deputy chief, said the weather conditions at the time were “quite atrocious. There was a full downpour.”
Firefighters used a special piece of equipment to lift the bus up in order to extricate the woman. “All the emergency services worked together and we successfully removed the lady from under the bus,” he said. “From all accounts, she is doing well.”
Joanna Morton, BC Transit spokesperson, said the incident is under investigation. “The RCMP did attend the scene and no charges were laid at that time,” she said. “In terms of what exactly happened, BC Transit is conducting their own internal investigation and the results have not been released yet.”
Powell River RCMP are also investigating the incident, said Constable Chris Bakker.
The RCMP are looking for witnesses and anyone else who may have any information about the incident. Anyone who can provide further information is asked to contact Powell River RCMP at 604.485.6255.
Property crime down
Powell River RCMP are reporting that break and enter complaints in the city have gone down 73 per cent in November compared to the monthly average over the past three months.
RCMP are attributing the reduction to a number of arrests made recently of people involved with break and enters and other property crimes in the city.
“We often find that a large number of break and enter and other property crime related complaints are the result of a few people,” said Constable Chris Bakker. “If one of the individuals is arrested, it can have a significant impact on crime stats in the community.”
Despite the reduction, police are still reminding people to take steps to prevent break and enters. Police recommend watching for suspicious vehicles in the neighbourhood, putting away ladders to prevent others from using them to enter a home through an upstairs window, locking all doors and windows when not at home and placing identifiable marks on valuable property so that it can be easily identified and recovered in the case that it is stolen.
In the case of crime or suspicious activity, people are asked to call Powell River RCMP at 604.485.6255 or CrimeStoppers at 1.800.222.8477 (TIPS). In the case of emergencies, people should call 911.
