VANCOUVER – A long-time Indo-Canadian has died of his injuries in hospital after being pinned between two buses in downtown Vancouver on Monday.
Charanjit Parhar, an experienced bus driver, had left his driver’s seat to remove the power poles connected to overhead wires to electrically power his bus to allow another driver, who was running late, to pass.
That’s when somehow Parhar became pinned between two buses. The details of how and why that happened remain unclear, as the accident is under investigation by police and safety officials.
“It is with a heavy heart that I share with you that the employee who was critically injured in Monday’s incident involving two Coast Mountain Bus Company buses has passed away. I would like to express our deepest condolences to the employee’s co-workers, friends and loved ones during this difficult time,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Quinn.
He added that TransLink is offering all employees support and counselling. “This tragic incident is being investigated by authorities and internally to determine what happened.”
Coast Mountain Bus Company president Michael McDaniel said the company is in mourning.
“He was a long-standing employee, and he will be sorely missed by all of his co-workers and friends,” he said.
“At Coast Mountain Bus Company, we are a close-knit family, and today, our family mourns the loss of one of its valued members.”
There was a moment of silence on all buses and SeaBuses at 3 p.m. Wednesday to honour Parhar, flags will be lowered to half-mast and black ribbons will be tied to all the buses on Friday.
Parhar was in his mid-60s according to his brother Raja Parhar.
He described the loss of the devoted father and grandfather as “devastating” to the family.
Tilak Rahl said he knew Parhar for 30 years — they met in Punjab, in northern India, before immigrating to Canada.
“He has a wife and three beautiful daughters. He was so happy and he always goes to play with the grandchildren every weekend. He was a hard working guy and so down to earth,” said the deceased man’s friend, reported CBC News.
“It’s a big loss. We are going to miss him too much,” said Rahl.
He described Parhar as an intelligent, community-minded man who had previously worked as a welder and a taxi driver before driving bus.
Balbir Mann, president of Unifor Local 111 which represents more than 4,000 Metro Vancouver transit operators, said he worked with Parhar years ago. He described him as a “humble” and “caring.”
“Twenty-one years on the job and always had a smile on his face for whoever he met throughout the whole day,” said Mann.
Parhar was treated by paramedics and transported to hospital with grave injuries and struggled to survive. Mann said confirmation of the driver’s death elicited “profound sadness,” and said that grief support will be available to other workers.
Mann said the “tragic accident” happened around 8:20 a.m. on West Cordova Street near Cambie Street and is under investigation by Vancouver Police and the WorkSafeBC, reported CBC News.
