Shoes, torn clothing and bodies covered with tarpaulins were strewn across one of Toronto’s busiest streets on Monday, turning a 15-block area into a ghost town after a van struck and killed 10 people and injured 15.
Young Lee, a 56-year-old attorney, looked out of his third-floor office window to see that food trucks had returned to the neighbourhood on one of the first warm days of the year.
Then he realised something was wrong: two people were on the ground next to a truck, frantically being treated by medics were performing CPR. There was blood on the ground, people were dishevelled and clothes were thrown around.
“There was stuff going on all up and down the sidewalks,” Mr. Lee said by telephone. “It was surreal to see this happen on the first bright spring day in Toronto.”
Steve Cortesi witnessed the carnage when he stepped out of his building for a smoke.
“I turned up my head and saw a van hit a man walking through the intersection,” Mr. Cortesi said. “It was a green light. He actually rolled into the road. I ran into the middle of the road and stopped all the cars. And then pandemonium broke loose, everyone was going crazy.”
Adrian, another witness, said he saw the tail end of the killing spreee. “I’m still shaking,” he said, holding back tears, more than an hour after the incident.
Aras Reisi, who lives nearby, heard people were hurt and rushed to the scene with friends, figuring his first-aid training would help.
“As a human being, when you see someone injured, you have to rush in and help,” he said.
