Edmonton Police are investigating after a woman was hit and seriously injured as she tried to cross a downtown street Wednesday night.
Police said officers were called to the collision just before 9 p.m. Wednesday, in the area of 119 Street and Jasper Avenue, when they arrived, they found a female pedestrian on the ground in a marked crosswalk.
Witnesses told officers the pedestrian was walking southbound, across the first eastbound lane of the intersection at 119 Street and Jasper Avenue, when she was struck by a vehicle.
Paramedics transported the 19-year-old woman to hospital, on Thursday morning; police said she remained in critical condition.
Later Thursday, officials with Earls confirmed she worked at the Earls Tin Palace, located near the crosswalk where the woman was hit – a spokesperson for the restaurant chain said she was an employee, but wouldn’t release her name or position.
“Senior management from Earls Tin Palace are on site at the hospital offering whatever support we can, head office is prepared to do whatever it takes to help her. Our hearts go out to her and her family,” Earls spokesperson Cate Simpson said in a statement to CTV News.
On Thursday morning, Mayor Don Iveson tweeted he had ordered a safety review of the intersection in question, in response to a tweet from an Edmontonian over safety of the city's crosswalks.
@RandeeArmstrong I've asked for an immediate safety review of this intersection.
— Don Iveson (@doniveson) July 10, 2014
Iveson went on to tweet that Councillors Bev Esslinger and Dave Loken were leading City Council's traffic safety initiative.
Iveson officially asked the Transportation Department to review the crosswalk where the collision took place; a report on city-wide intersection safety was already scheduled to go before council this fall.
“I know a lot of people are asking a lot of questions about intersection safety in general, so just to be clear, we’re taking it seriously for this specific intersection, as well as more broadly, what standards the transportation department applies,” Iveson said.
Police are investigating, and say alcohol and speed are not believed to be factors in the crash. No charges have been laid.
