A man in his 70s is dead and four others have been hospitalized after an SUV crashed into a downtown Ottawa building Wednesday morning, police said.
Paramedics had been trying to resuscitate the man on the way to the hospital, said Ottawa Paramedic Service spokesperson Marc-Antoine Deschamps.
The crash happened at the corner of Rideau and Cobourg streets, where a centre called The Drop-In, run by Capital City Mission, offers meals, coffee and clothing to people in need.
Two other men were hospitalized with critical but non-life-threatening injuries and another pedestrian, a woman, was in stable condition, Deschamps said.
He said the man who drove the SUV sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was hospitalized in stable condition.
The grey SUV with a smashed front end remained on the sidewalk in front of the building for several hours, surrounded by debris and snow.
The circumstances of the crash, including if weather played a role, remain unclear, Ottawa police Const. Fern John-Simon told reporters at the scene.
Environment Canada had issued a special weather statement for the Ottawa region warning of localized bursts of heavy snow causing reduced visibility on the roads.
Feras Jarmans, an employee of a nearby shawarma restaurant, said he heard the loud crash of the SUV colliding with the building.
Jarmans described a gory scene in the aftermath of the crash. He said the driver left the vehicle visibly shaken and was crying on the sidewalk as police arrived.
Police are asking the public to steer clear of the area. Rideau Street between Cobourg and Charlotte streets will be closed for some time as the investigation continues, John-Simon said.
“Our thoughts are with the family and friends of the victim who passed,” John-Simon added.
The crash caused “significant damage” to the building, said Ottawa Fire Services spokesperson Nick DeFazio.
The building is not in imminent danger of collapse, but firefighters will ensure it is shored up after police conclude their on-scene investigation, DeFazio added.
Police are asking anyone who witnessed the crash or may have footage of the incident to contact authorities.
