Crews were on scene Wednesday morning, the day after a young child was struck and killed by a passing GO train in Mississauga, repairing a broken fence that runs adjacent to the track lines.
On Tuesday, at around 7:39 p.m., police said they were called to the train tracks area near Dundas Street and Cawthra Road where a child was struck by a train and pronounced dead at the scene.
Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie said the child was four years old.
A railway line used by GO Transit’s Milton trains and commercial freight passes the intersection, crossing both Cawthra Road and Dundas Street, and running parallel to a street called Lolita Gardens.
Multiple witnesses told Global News that there was an opening in the fence and that many residents in the area used it as a shortcut to get to Dundas Street instead of walking “all the way around.”
On Wednesday morning, crews were seen patching up the barrier, adding extra fencing to where there were already existing gaps in an attempt to seal off access completely to the train tracks.
A resident named Samantha said she often saw people crossing through.
“I figured because we have an open fence right by the train tracks it would be best for our community to close that fence and to fix it so that there won’t be any more ways for people to go through it,” she said.
“It’s really scary and it’s not the first time I’ve heard that honk from a train,” Samantha said, referring to the same loud horn sound she heard Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, Muhammad Tayyab, who said he owns a garage nearby, told Global News he’s repeatedly seen the hole in the fence be repaired for a short time then broken again.
Tayabb was working in his garage on Tuesday night when he said he heard the same loud, long horn from the train that he “usually” hears.
But when when he walked outside and looked towards the tracks he said he saw the train stopped, something he’d never seen before.
“I saw three kids under the bridge and they were screaming and crying,” Tayabb said. He called 911.
Metrolinx confirmed on Tuesday that it was “made aware that an individual was struck by one of our trains west of Dixie GO Station.”
A red and white sign, in both English and French, from CP saying “Danger. Private Property. No Trespassing. Violators will be prosecuted” was visible on the fence.
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) issued a statement on Wednesday saying that it has deployed an investigator following Tuesday’s incident.
“The TSB is gathering information and assessing the occurrence,” the statement read.
The TSB is an independent agency that investigates rail transportation occurrences with the aim of advancing safety. It does not determine civil or criminal liability.
— With files from Global News’ Isaac Callan
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