A young girl was airlifted to the IWK Health Centre in Halifax Tuesday morning after she was struck by a dump truck outside Antigonish, N.S.
The RCMP say the incident happened around 8 a.m. on Highway 4 in Monastery, N.S., near the East Antigonish Education Centre/Academy.
The young girl, less than ten years old, was struck near her driveway. Police say she was on her way to catch a school bus at the time of the incident.
“The bus was coming to a stop. Unsure what the lights were at this time, that's still to be determined, but the bus was nearing a bus stop,” says Antigonish RCMP Const. Ian Fahie. “The bus will be over checked to ensure what– there’s a GPS on board the bus– to determine what stage the lights were at.”
Police say the girl's injuries are serious, but they aren't believed to be life-threatening.
People in the rural community are worried and upset about what happened.
“It’s a very close-knit community and everybody looks after one another. So everybody would feel this,” says neighbour Melissa Brown. “It’s terrible. My neighbours there, they're elderly ladies. And they were all crying so hard this morning and everything.”
“Well, yeah, I got a lot of grandchildren too, and I wouldn't want to see them get hit,” says neighbour Reg Mattie.
Police say it's too early in the investigation to say if charges could be laid against the truck driver.
School officials say their crisis response plan has been put into effect and staff will be available to talk with any students who may have been affected.
With files from CTV Atlantic’s Dan Macintosh.
