TORONTO -- Two children were injured following an incident involving a snow plow near a school in Whitby, Ont. Tuesday morning, police say.
According to Durham Regional Police, officers were called to Julie Payette Public School, near Garden and Mary streets, around 9:40 a.m. after receiving a report that kids had been injured on the property.
Police said a 12-year-old boy was found seriously injured and was taken to a trauma centre. The other child, who police say was an 11-year-old girl, was treated by paramedics at the scene for minor injuries.
“Further to that, we received information that the injuries were caused by snow that had been pushed by a snow plow,” Durham police Const. Conrad Wong told reporters at the scene.
Wong said that the children were playing near a fence along the school property line that edges onto a residential area at the time of the incident.
"One of them was underneath the snow, and the other one was halfway in the snow when they were discovered by other classmates and staff members," Durham Police Const. George Tudos added.
No further details were provided regarding the injuries sustained by the children during the incident.
The children’s parents have been notified.
Wong said the investigation is ongoing and that officers will be looking at “exactly what transpired throughout the entire incident and getting a clear picture of what happened.”
The Ministry of Labour has been notified of the incident, Wong said, and the Durham Regional Police Service’s Criminal Investigation Bureau, as well as their Traffic Services branch, will be conducting a joint investigation.
No charges have been laid so far in connection with the incident.
Bystanders rush to save boy and girl in snow
Noel Septimo is still in shock over how he went from clearing his driveway to using all his strength to save the 12-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy stuck in the snow.
He said it started when the snow plow driver came towards him.
“He approached me like, ‘Can I borrow your shovel? Cause I got to dig out the kid’, and then I said, ‘yeah sure.’”
Septimo then looked over and heard cries for help and saw people pushing on the fence.
“So I run over there right away and I helped them, yes. That’s what happened. I’m still nervous actually.”
Septimo said about four people helped dig out the children, but the effort was complicated by the fence, which was on top of the snow.
“I try to push as much as I can, that fence. To help the kid out from the snow, that fence, it’s really terrible.”
Septimo said he believes the girl got out before emergency responders arrived. Then the boy was freed.
“To see that poor kid you know unconscious. If I’m the father of that kid. Devastated.”
Septimo said he doesn’t consider himself a hero, just did what anyone else would do.
