North Vancouver vehicle crash kills 21-year-old

A 21-year-old man was killed after being struck by a taxi Saturday morning in North Vancouver.

BC Emergency Health Services (BCEHS) received a call at 5:29 a.m. about a motor vehicle incident at Forbes Avenue and West 1st Street.

North Vancouver RCMP, BCEHS, and North Vancouver City Fire Department responded, finding the man suffering from serious injuries.

“Despite life-saving measures, the pedestrian was pronounced deceased at the scene,” said Corp. Dave Noon, Integrated Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Service (ICARS).

Wilson Williams, elected councillor and spokesperson of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation), tells CityNews that the man — a member of the Nation — was a promising lacrosse player and a very talented, good-hearted young man.

“It’s hitting hard today, you could feel the heaviness in our community losing someone through such a tragic incident,” he said.

“Our community needs the medicine, we’re utilizing our teachings but at the same time we need to come together.”

Williams says a conversation about road safety must be had with the City of North Vancouver.

“(It’s) definitely a challenging area for over 100 years since roadways have been put into and through our communities and villages,” he said.

“We’re going to have a meaningful discussion and use some political will and capital with the City of North Vancouver with some safety measures and just having a good conversation about the challenges we’ve had in this roadway.”

Williams says they’ve activated many services on-site.

“Victim Services on site, you know, we’ve had some healing and our cultural people singing songs,” he said.

“We’ve also prepared some opening up some of our facilities, like our youth centre and in the community for some of the youth to gather.”

He says the services are aimed to allow the youth to reach out to their Nation.

“We can come together and grieve in a good way so we can get through this in a good way,” Williams said.

The victim’s name is not being disclosed out of respect for their family.

North Vancouver RCMP and ICARS are investigating the collision.

With files from Catherine Garrett and Angela Bower