From CBC News

18-year-old Rueshad Grant was standing alongside float as Caribbean parade wound down

Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival Festival Management Committee Statement on tragic event at today’s [Sat 3] parade

Toronto police have identified the young man who died after he was run over by a float during the parade at the city’s Scotiabank Caribbean Carnival.

Earlier reports stated that 18-year-old Rueshad Grant fell off the float, but Toronto police said late Sunday that he was standing alongside the float when he was struck around 8:50 p.m. ET on Saturday. The parade had ended at 6 p.m., but vehicles were continuing to exit the parade route when the accident occurred.

Police responded to the scene in the Lake Shore Boulevard West and Dowling Avenue area.

The Mississauga man was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries, but died from his injuries.

Police are now in the midst of investigating what happened.

A video posted online appears to show the aftermath of the incident, with people yelling for the float to stop moving. Police want to speak to witnesses.

“If the video is in fact of the float involved, there’s got to be thousands of people all around that float,” Sgt. Lawrence Zimmerman told The Canadian Press.

“We’re just hoping that if someone actually saw what happened, they would contact us.”

Organizers saddened by tragic death

The head of the festival management committee offered condolences:

TORONTO, Aug. 4, 2013 /CNW/ – On behalf of the organizers, volunteers and revellers involved in today’s Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival parade, we would like to express our heartfelt sympathies to the friends and family of a young man who died in a tragic accident earlier today.

“We are deeply saddened by this loss,” said Denise Herrera-Jackson, CEO Festival Management Committee. “The Toronto police are conducting a full and thorough investigation and we will assist them in any way we can.”

SOURCE Scotiabank Toronto Caribbean Carnival

END

“I’m personally shocked, but speaking on behalf of the festival, we as a group are mourning the loss of a young man,” carnival spokesman Stephen Weir told CBC News.

He said the parade floats travel at “extremely slow speeds.”

“They do travel very slowly, but they’re very heavy,” Weir said, adding, “Safety is a huge part of our pre-parade briefing.”

The parade is the highlight of the Caribbean Carnival, which is billed as the biggest cultural festival of its kind in North America.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2013/08/03/toronto-carnival-pedestrian-fatality.html