Indian student in Canada dies after being struck and dragged by pickup truck
Toronto (PTI): A 20-year-old Indian student was killed after he was hit and dragged by a pickup truck while crossing a road on a cycle here, according to a media report.
Though the police have not yet identified the victim, news website cbc.ca in a report published on Friday quoted the victim's cousin Parveen Saini as saying that Kartik Saini came to Canada from India in August 2021.
Parveen Saini spoke from Karnal, Haryana, where their family is from, the report said.
The family is hoping that Kartik's body will be sent to India as soon as possible for proper burial, Parveen said.
Sheridan College has confirmed that Kartik was a student there, the report said.
"Our community is deeply saddened by the sudden death of Kartik. We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, peers and professors," the college said in an email on Friday.
According to police the fatal collision happened at the intersection of Yonge Street and St Clair Avenue at about 4:30 pm on Wednesday evening.
The cyclist died after being struck and dragged by a pickup truck in midtown, it said in a press release on Thursday.
Emergency services tried to free the cyclist and revive him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Constable Laura Brabant, spokesperson for the Toronto Police Service, said the investigation into the collision is on.
"The determination on whether charges are laid or not takes time as the investigators have to conduct a full investigation first," Brabant said, adding, "This takes time and is not a rushed process."
Meanwhile, a makeshift memorial has been set up at the scene of the collision.
A group called Advocacy For Respect For Cyclists is organising a ride in Kartik's honour on November 30.
Participants will meet at Matt Cohen Park at Bloor Street and Spadina Avenue. The ride will end with the placement of a ghost bike at the crash site.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
