A pedestrian was struck and killed by a truck in Halifax on Friday afternoon.

Halifax Regional Police responded to the 2200 block of Gottingen Street around 2:45 p.m.

Police say a man the man died at the scene. They did not give any more details about the man.

Gottingen Street was closed for several hours between Uniacke and Prince William streets as police investigated. Traffic was rerouted during that time.

Witnesses say just before 3 p.m. they heard piercing screams and then nothing.

They say after the pedestrian was struck, he was dragged a short distance before the vehicle came to a stop.

“This is really sad for the community to see someone hit on our street,” said Patricia Cuttell Busby, the executive director of the North End Business Association.

Police, fire, and EMS responded quickly to the scene on Gottingen Street.

It happened just outside the neighbourhood YMCA, a place we are told the victim would go to use the pay phone.

The street recently went through some changes.

One lane has turned into a bus lane, and parking spots have been taken away.

“This has always been a pedestrian-oriented commercial district with a lot of residents out, and I know there have been other accidents lately, so this is very tragic and I want to know more about what happened,” Cuttell Busby said.

Police hope to answer some of those questions as they continue their investigation.

Gottingen Street reopened around 5:30 p.m. Friday evening.

The identity of the victim has yet to be released.

With files from CTV Atlantic’s Marie Adsett.