Woman struck and killed by runaway cargo vehicle in Surrey identified as Paramjit Masutta

Police say a woman who had been walking with two children is dead after being struck by a cargo vehicle with no driver.

She was walking with her girls in Surrey, B.C. on Tuesday when a runaway delivery van suddenly veered in their direction.

She has been identified as 48 year old Paramjit Masutta, a mother of two girls. She saved their lives by pushing them to the side to safety but sacrificed her own. Her children are heartbroken and still can't make sense of what has happened to their mother. They believe their mother will come home. 

 Masutta had been holding onto her children. Masutta died just a week shy of her 49th birthday on December 24th. 

RCMP in Surrey, B.C., received a report on Tuesday of a crash involving two vehicles and a pedestrian.

Cpl. Elenore Sturko says there is a school nearby, where students would have been heading home around the same time as the crash.

Police are on scene at a fatal motor vehicle collision involving a pedestrian in the 6100 block of 144 Street. Please avoid the area, road closures are in effect while our collision team investigates. pic.twitter.com/0BsUA2Sxn5

— Surrey RCMP (@SurreyRCMP) December 16, 2020

Police say it appears the unoccupied cargo van rolled into traffic, where it struck another vehicle before hitting the woman on the sidewalk. Surrey RCMP are still looking into how the delivery van ended up rolling down the hill on 144 Street without anyone in the driver seat. It's unclear whether the vehicle was left in neutral or whether there was a mechanical problem. 

The vehicle hit another vehicle before jumping the sidewalk near 61A Avenue.

It turns out the driver is  a contractor hired by Amazon, has been co-operating with the RCMP's investigation. Police said he is completely broken by what  happened.

The investigation is in its early stages. 

Photo courtesy of CTV News Vancouver.