A father is struggling to cope with the death of his teenage daughter, who was struck by an SUV after it collided with another vehicle at a Vaughan intersection.
Rose Mandarino, 16, was on her way home from school Tuesday afternoon when a Buick Regal and Nissan Pathfinder crashed. The black SUV mounted the curb and hit the girl.
"My daughter, she was a beautiful, caring individual. She loved life," Frank Mandarino, struggling to hold back tears, told reporters Wednesday.
Friends of the girl gathered at the accident site throughout the day, leaving flowers and consoling one another.
The accident occurred at about 4:15 p.m. on Tuesday at Langstaff Road and Ansley Grove Road in Vaughan. The girl was standing with her twin brother at the time.
"If one of us were just talking to her for an extra minute...gosh, it's so scary," a girlfriend of the victim told CTV Toronto.
As the victim and her brother stood at a corner of the intersection, the SUV was travelling eastbound, but police say they aren't sure if it had the right of way.
At the same time, the Buick was making a left-hand turn. The two vehicles collided, and the SUV went flying into the corner of the intersection where the two teens were standing, striking the girl.
An off-duty police officer at the scene attempted to revive the girl using CPR. Paramedics took her to Humber-Finch hospital, but doctors there pronounced her dead.
The SUV driver remained at the scene for several hours. She was visibly distraught when she learned the girl had died. Her husband came to the scene to pick her up.
Police say alcohol or drug use on the part of either driver does not appear to be a factor.
With a report from CTV Toronto's Galit Solomon and Austin Delaney
