Pedestrian dies after being struck by vehicle in Sandy Hill

Two women were rushed to hospital after a driver struck them with a car on King Edward Avenue near uOttawa campus on Tuesday morning. (Jim O'Grady/CTV News Ottawa)

Ottawa police say one of the women struck by the driver of a vehicle in Sandy Hill near the University of Ottawa campus has died from her injuries.

A Mazda 3 struck two pedestrians just after 5:30 a.m. Tuesday at King Edward Avenue and Somerset Street East, according to police.

Police say a woman in her 20s died from her injuries in hospital.

The second pedestrian, a woman in her 20s, suffered serious injuries and remains in hospital.

A Mazda sedan with a dented hood and broken windshield was parked at the scene Tuesday morning.

"I heard the big sirens and came outside because, you know, you're concerned there's a neighbourhood fire and so I saw all the trucks and everything like that and the person on the ground," Mary Darling said.

"There was just the screaming, you know. These poor, hurt women."

A paramedic spokesman said an off-duty paramedic was the first person who arrived on the scene, and they started caring for the patients right away.

The Ottawa Police Service Collision Unit investigators are looking to speak with anyone who witnessed the crash or anyone who may have dashcam footage of the area. You can contact the Ottawa Police Service Collision Investigation at 613-236-1222, ext. 2481.

Residents say the intersection of King Edward Avenue and Somerset Street is unsafe.

"People, they go too fast through here and the students, they're focused on where they are going," Darling said. "So we need to have speed cameras. We need to have one of those flashing signs. We need to have one of those signs that says how fast you're going because this is a 40 (km/h) zone. People don't pay attention to the little static sign anymore."

"It's very unsafe, very dangerous," Leah Geller said. "In fast, one of my neighbours got hit a few years ago at this exact intersection and had a severe head injury."

Geller says they have made a number of requests to the city to improve the intersection.

"This street should be 40 km/h but people come off the Queensway and they speed up the hill, but there are no speed cameras," Geller said.

"The other problem or challenge is that there are a lot of pedestrians and a lot of cyclists but really the intersection is designed to benefit the cars, not the pedestrians and cyclists."

Ottawa police closed King Edward Avenue between Templeton Street and Thomas More Private, and Somerset Street East between King Edward and Henderson avenues for the investigation. The roads reopened just before 3 p.m.

This is the third fatal collision involving a pedestrian in three weeks.

On Sept. 30, the driver of a vehicle struck a pedestrian on Walkley Road, police said. The pedestrian, a 56-year-old man, died from his injuries.

On Oct. 7, a woman in her 60s died in hospital after she was struck by the driver of a vehicle while walking on Carling Avenue.