Daycare worker, four toddlers and an infant hit by car in Oshawa

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Parents of children at an Oshawa daycare were no doubt terrified to learn five kids under three years old were hit by a car while out for a stroll with a daycare worker Wednesday morning.

One of the children, a two-year-old girl, suffered life-threatening injuries and was airlifted to a Toronto trauma centre while the other four kids — three toddlers and an infant — were taken to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

Durham Regional Police say the daycare worker was out for her daily walk with the children and they were crossing a street in a residential neighbourhood in North Oshawa — northwest of Simcoe St. N. and Taunton Rd. W. — when the group was hit by a car making a left turn just before 9:30 a.m.

“What we know so far is that a vehicle was travelling southbound on (Niagara Dr.),” acting Sgt. Nicholas Gluckstein told reporters at the scene Wednesday, explaining the vehicle made a left turn onto Sheridan St.

“The pedestrians — one adult female and five children — were walking northbound,” he said. “And, as they were walking across the street, that vehicle making a left turn struck them all.”

Stroller visible on the street behind the car

A white compact car remained on the side of the road on Sheridan St., just east of the intersection, and a stroller could be seen just behind the vehicle.

Gluckstein pointed out that the intersection is a two-way stop, so there is no stop sign on Niagara Dr. But there is one on Sheridan St.

“The person driving southbound, there are no stop signs for them to stop and potentially look around there,” he said. “But five children and an adult female crossing the road is a pretty large site to see.”

“And I can tell you that these are very young children — the oldest being three years old and the youngest being seven months,” Gluckstein added.

He said a two-year-old girl suffered critical, life-threatening injuries and was initially transported to a local area hospital, then subsequently being rushed via Air ORNGE to a Toronto trauma centre.

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Mom accompanied daughter on board air ambulance

“We were able to have the mother be transported with her in the helicopter to the trauma centre,” Gluckstein said, adding the little girl’s father also headed to the hospital with “a police escort.”

He said four other children were transported to a nearby hospital with minor injuries.

And an adult female suffered “serious but non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to a local area hospital.”

“The adult female was not a parent (of the injured children) — she is a daycare employee for a daycare in the area,” Gluckstein said, explaining the five injured children are “registered with that daycare.”

He said witnesses confirmed the woman is often seen walking in the neighbourhood with kids from the daycare.

Gluckstein said he driver, who remained on scene, is being “cooperative with police” and there was no initial information to suggest the motorist was under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

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Unknown how fast car was going

The driver, reportedly an older woman whose identity has not been released, was also taken to hospital with minor injuries.

“As you can imagine, this is quite a complex investigation with that amount of pedestrians and, of course, the driver being transported with injuries as well,” Gluckstein said. “So, charges are something the investigators will look at. Nothing that’s guaranteed, but it’s something that they explore as the investigation continues.”

He said it’s too early in the investigation to know how fast the vehicle was travelling, but Niagara St. Has a posted speed limit of 40 km/h.

“That’s something that our investigators will be looking at as they speak to witnesses, which there are quite a few, and as they comb the residences of the area and pull video camera (footage) to see what speed (and) what exactly happened,” Gluckstein said.

cdoucette@postmedia.com

@sundoucette

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