Pedestrian killed in central Edmonton crash

Andre Grondin said he administered CPR to the first person killed in a crash in Edmonton this year. CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny reports.

A 78-year-old woman is dead after she was hit by a vehicle in central Edmonton on Wednesday.

Police were called to the area of 107 Avenue and 115 Street at around 10:15 a.m. The woman was crossing the road near the intersection “on a part of the roadway where crossing is prohibited” when she was struck by a 2023 GMC Savana, the Edmonton Police Service said.

The woman died in hospital. The driver of the GMC, a 76-year-old man, did not report injuries.

Andre Grondin was making a stop in the area on his way to work when he heard the crash. He ran to the scene and began administering CPR while calling 911.

“The person didn’t appear to be moving, so I ran over and checked for a pulse, got the person into a position and started administering compressions,” Grondin told CTV News Edmonton. “It was a pretty hard impact.

“(I was) just trying to preserve the chances of survival for this person that had been quite clearly struck by a vehicle at a pretty high rate of speed.”

He said the driver of the van returned to the scene and told him the light was green when the pedestrian crossed.

The crash is under investigation, but speed or alcohol are not believed to be factors.

This was Edmonton’s first fatal crash of the year, EPS said.

“No loss of life on our roads is acceptable. Everyone deserves to get where they are going safely and we are all accountable for keeping each other safe on the roads,” Jessica Lamarre, the city’s director of Safe Mobility, told CTV News Edmonton in a statement.

“An engineering review of the location will occur to see if there are any issues that can and should be addressed in both the short term and the long term. As part of the review, fatality signs will be placed at the location of the collision to acknowledge a fatality has taken place and serve as a visual reminder to drive safely.”

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny