‘Unimaginable loss’: Burnaby Grade 8 student mourned after dump-truck crash

The principal of Byrne Creek Community School in Burnaby says counselling and support services will be at the high school Friday, following the death of a Grade 8 student. She was the second teen to be hit in the area in the past six months.

On Thursday, the 14-year-old was struck and killed by a dump truck while she was walking near the school on 16 Street and 11 Avenue, shortly after class ended for the day. She was walking with friends when the collision occurred. RCMP say the other teens tried to save her, but the victim was pronounced dead on scene.

“The 57-year-old man, the driver of the vehicle [who] he is not a Burnaby resident, remained on scene. He is cooperating with the police investigation,” said Burnaby RCMP Cpl. Brett Cunningham.

A letter was sent to Byrne Creek Community School families Friday to share the terrible news with students, staff, and parents.

“Our hearts break for the family who are facing this unimaginable loss. Our support and sympathy are with them. An incident like this is always difficult to accept and is affecting many in our school community. The Burnaby School District Critical Incident Response Team is on site to offer counselling and support to students,” principal Effie Aadland wrote, in part.

Read more: 14-year-old girl dies after being hit by dump truck in Burnaby

Families were also given resources about how to speak with their children about death and loss, and how to support those who are grieving.

“Reactions to grief vary greatly. You know your child best and can help by being sensitive to their feelings, talking to them, and listening,” Aadland wrote.

Death marks second pedestrian-involved crash in the area

The death has shaken the Burnaby community, and the RCMP says they have support services available to everyone.

The investigation is ongoing and Cunningham says it’s too early to determine a cause, but they are looking at several investigative avenues.

“Some of those include distractions that might have been in place. Some of those may have include the layout of the roadway including vehicle obstructions visibility, as well as weather road conditions, it was raining quite heavily yesterday and wet, as well as the mechanical status of the vehicle and condition of the driver at the time,” he described Friday.

Cunningham adds RCMP have determined alcohol or drugs were not factors.

The collision happened in a busy area, where locals say they have expressed their concerns about the safety of the roads as there is no sidewalk and heavy truck traffic moves through due to construction in the area.

“We’re very cognizant of the concerns that the community has raised about some of the traffic issues facing this neighborhood,” he said.

Six months ago, another teenager was struck by a vehicle in the area. She survived, and RCMP say they met with the City of Burnaby and other community stakeholders following the incident.

Cunningham says the City of Burnaby was receptive about addressing some of these community safety concerns at the time. He notes there have also been concerns raised about the safety of commercial vehicles in the city, and police have increased their checks in the last year as a result.

“Throughout the past four months in January to April alone, we’ve conducted three commercial vehicle enforcement operations within a three-block radius of this collision scene … We’ve inspected throughout the past four months 110 vehicles in this neighborhood. We’ve removed 68 of those vehicles from the roadway and issued over 135 violation tickets.”

(Angela Bower, CityNews photo)

Overall, Cunningham says the most common violation tickets are for insecure cargo, use of electronic device while driving, or pre-trip inspection errors.

“We always work in cooperation with the city. Obviously, several concerns are raised through the city. We identify areas that have increased collisions, increase complaints, and the RCMP takes it upon themselves to to target those specific areas for enforcement. But it’s a collaborative approach on how we identify certain areas.”