Police investigate deaths of two pedestrians on Regent Ave.

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This article was published 13/05/2019 (1956 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man and a woman hit and killed by a car while crossing the street early Tuesday in Winnipeg brings the pedestrian death toll in Manitoba this year to eight.

Police say a vehicle was travelling west on Regent Avenue at about 12:20 a.m. when it hit the pedestrians, who were crossing southbound at Panet Road. (Regent becomes Nairn Avenue at Panet Road.)

The driver of the vehicle remained at the scene, the Winnipeg Police Service said in a news release.

WPS spokesman Const. Jay Murray said next of kin had been notified, but police were not releasing the name or age of the victims.

The traffic division is seeking possible witnesses. Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call 204-986-7085 or Crime Stoppers at 204-786-TIPS (8477).

A witness whose vehicle was stopped at a red light told Global News the incident involved three pedestrians: the couple who died and a woman who had crossed safely to the boulevard.

“She made it there — and she told me it was her brother and her brother’s girlfriend walking behind her. They were just walking slow,” Astra Derksen said. “Just all of a sudden, a car comes out of nowhere. They had the green light, and it just went (crashing sound). I don’t think he was speeding.”

A passenger in Derksen’s car, Jordan Getty, told Global: “I seen one of the bodies fly in the air, and I seen another one of the bodies go under the car, and I seen the car stop very shortly after that and pull over to the side.”

Winnipeg police couldn’t comment the deaths, which are still under investigation, said Murray.

However, he did say, in general, a lot of vehicle and pedestrian safety comes down to common sense and ensuring the rules of the road, such as the Highway Traffic Act, are followed.

“It is important that both drivers and pedestrians are focused on the road and traffic,” said Murray.

Last week, Manitoba Public Insurance released statistics showing of the 14 people who died in motor vehicle collisions in the province in the first four months of 2019, six were pedestrians; four of the six were killed in Winnipeg.

Tuesday’s incident brings the death toll to eight. MPI said, on average, about 12 pedestrians are killed and 130 injured every year in the province.

The youngest pedestrian in Manitoba to die this year was Galila Habtegergish, 4. Galila and her mother were struck by a vehicle March 18 as they crossed Isabel Street at the crosswalk at Alexander Avenue.

Other Winnipeg pedestrians killed in collisions thus far in 2019:

— A 41-year-old man struck by a vehicle while crossing Osborne Street at Morley Avenue on March 20. He died March 26.

— A 31-year-old woman was struck and killed Jan. 11, when a vehicle going southbound on St. James Street collided with a northbound vehicle, causing that vehicle to slide into the woman who was walking on the sidewalk.

— On Jan. 15, a 71-year-old woman was killed after being hit by a vehicle as she walked on Henderson Highway at Slater Avenue.

According to MPI, Manitoba’s other two pedestrian deaths were a 42-year-old woman struck by a truck as she walked on Highway 224 on Peguis First Nation on April 23, and a 41-year-old man found dead lying on the road on Highway 391 on March 22.