1 child dead, woman seriously injured after 5 pedestrians in St. Thomas, Ont.

A child is dead and a woman is in hospital with potentially life-threatening injuries after she and three other pedestrians were hit by a pickup truck in downtown St. Thomas, Ontario.

St. Thomas Police responded to an accident at the intersection of Talbot Street and Caso Crossing just before 5 p.m. Tuesday, police spokesman Samantha Wakefield said.

“A red pickup truck was traveling west on Talbot Street where the driver lost control of the vehicle, veered off the roadway and struck five pedestrians on the sidewalk,” she said.

The pickup driver has been arrested and charged with drunk driving resulting in death and drunk driving resulting in bodily injury. He is being held by the police.

The remaining three pedestrians were treated for non-life-threatening injuries, Wakefield said. She would not reveal the names or ages of the victims pending family reports.

“A fatal collision is always tragic, especially when a child is involved,” said Wakefield. “St. Thomas is a city of 43,000 people, but a very tight-knit community, so there’s no doubt this evening hits very close to home for everyone.” St. Thomas is about 200 km southwest of Toronto.

It’s not clear if the pedestrians hit were all part of the same group, Wakefield said. Intersections along Talbot Street are heavily pedestrianized, especially in the summer when it gets warmer.

“All we know is they were pedestrians, it was just before dinner. We don’t know if they were a family unit or if they were all individual pedestrians,” Wakefield said.

The intersection remains closed while police investigate further.