Child killed, mother seriously hurt in collision involving transit bus at Horseshoe Bay

West Vancouver police say a 4 year-old boy was killed and his mother was seriously injured in a collision involving a bus near the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal on Wednesday.

In a press conference Wednesday evening, police confirmed that three pedestrians were struck by a TransLink bus around 3:30 p.m.

The young boy was confirmed deceased on scene, while his mother was transported to Lions Gate Hospital in critical condition.

Another adult, said to be a friend of the mother, was hospitalized in stable condition.

Police added that speed had been ruled out as a factor in the collision.

The bus’ driver is being interviewed by police, who say a criminal offence has not been ruled out.

TransLink confirmed a bus was involved in an incident at the terminal, and directed all further questions to police.

Aerial footage showed an articulated transit bus at the corner of Keith Road and Bay Street, just outside the BC Ferries terminal building in the Horseshoe Bay village, with a white tent erected next to it.

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Witness Vaughn Nelson said he had just disembarked from a ferry when he saw the bus make a sharp right turn.

“I heard all this screaming, and then I saw the bus had cut it too short, and I was walking towards the bus and I saw the lady under the bus,” he said.

“There were people sitting on the concrete steps who had witnessed it, and they were just screaming and screaming.

“I’m crying,” he added. “My feeling is it didn’t have to happen, but then the case is what happened?”

1:58 BC Ferries announces changes to bookings at Horseshoe Bay

BC Ferries said the incident was not affecting ferry service, but that access to the area typically used by foot passengers arriving via transit, taxi, or vehicle drop-off was impacted.

The Horseshoe Bay Business Association said that Wednesday’s Taste of the Bay community event had been cancelled until further notice “due to an extremely unfortunate event.”

More to come…