A three-year-old boy who was rushed to hospital with life-threatening injuries after a car crash in midtown Toronto on Saturday was not sitting in a car seat at the time of the collision, police said.

The crash occurred just before 8:30 a.m. near Roselawn Avenue and Avenue Road, when a car collided with a pole.

The boy’s parents were both in the vehicle. The father, who was in the passenger’s seat, sustained non-life-threatening injuries and was taken to Sunnybrook Hospital, Traffic Services officer Clint Stibbe said.

The boy’s mother, who was in the driver’s seat, was not injured.

A witness rushed to help the passengers and broke open a window as the car was smoking to rescue the toddler.

“When I found him, he was up against the windshield,” Justin Kieswetter told CTV Toronto. “He was unconscious at the time. He was breathing luckily, but his face was right in the smoke, went around, broke open the windows. Got him out as carefully as we could with the help of some other pedestrians and we put him onto the ground, put him into the safe position and waited for emergency services to come help.”

Police said it appeared the toddler may have been wearing a seat belt, but was not in a car seat.

There was “no indication of a car seat type. No evidence of a proper seating arrangement,” Stibbe said.

Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act requires children under the age of 8 to use a booster seat if they weigh less than 80 pounds or 36 kilograms.

Avenue Road was closed in both directions from Roselawn Avenue to Kelway Boulevard as police investigated.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Police are looking at speed as a possible factor. A collision reconstruction unit was on scene gathering evidence, looking at tire marks and curb strikes.

Police are also asking that any witnesses come forward with information, specifically the driver of another vehicle with roof racks that was seen in the area at the time.