MONTREAL - A teenager died Tuesday morning after being pinned under a bus for 20 minutes at the corner of Rachel and Frontenac streets.
The boy was in the street and hit as the bus made a right-hand turn.
"The pedestrian, according to what we have, he was on a skateboard," said Const. Anie Lemieux.
"He was on the bike path and the bus driver, they were both on a green light."
However two witnesses told CTV News the teenager had just disembarked from the bus and was walking across the street when he was hit.
Firefighters were the first to arrive at the scene, and they called for a crew that had experience in heavy equipment rescue.
The emergency crews used hydraulic jaws to move the bus away from the victim, however their efforts were in vain and the boy died at the scene.
Several people aboard the bus, including the bus driver, were treated for shock.
The boy was in grade 10 at Jeanne Mance high school.
Counsellors were at the boy's high school by mid-morning, waiting to talk to students after they were informed of his death.
A blind spot?
Some STM bus drivers on the scene Tuesday morning talked about a blind spot on the right side when buses are turning.
One bus driver told CTV News that he knows the area, and isn't surprised a fatal accident happened there. He says the signs on both the streets and cycling path near Rachel and Frontenac are not very clear.
Cyclists who use the path every day say making eye contact with the driver of a bus that is turning is always a good idea.
