Die on the job, at 16. Zohaib Aamir Shafiqui was pushing grocery carts on Monday evening before being hit by a snow removal truck. The collision will have been fatal for the young employee of the IGA grocery store, which leaves a family and colleagues in shock, in search of answers.
“We are all torn. His twin brother hasn’t said a word since we heard the news. My son was a good boy. Serious at school. He went to work directly after his classes. I don’t understand how the driver didn’t see him, ”explains Faouzia Halif, the victim’s mother, wiping away her tears.
The 16-year-old succumbed to his injuries after being hit by a snow removal truck on Monday evening in Laval.
The tragedy occurred in the parking lot of Galeries Laval on boulevard Le Corbusier, not far from boulevard Saint-Martin Ouest, around 9:20 p.m.
The 49-year-old driver was treated for nervous shock, said Érika Landry, spokesperson for the Laval Police Service (SPL).
“It’s the call that no mother wants to receive”, breathes Gulnaz Gausar. The deceased’s aunt gently pats the shoulder of her sister, the victim’s mother, with a sigh.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Saqib Shafiqui and Faouzia Halif, parents of the victim, and Gulnaz Gausar, his aunt, in the parking lot of the IGA grocery store where Zohaib Aamir Shafiqui worked.
The young Zohaib Aamir had been working at the IGA grocery store for a few months already, confirms his father.
Came to collect the personal effects of the teenager, Saqib Shafiqui is still in shock. He holds his boy’s backpack with a trembling hand. The bereaved father showed up at the scene on Tuesday morning seeking answers with his wife and sister-in-law.
“I want to know exactly what happened. A question has been bothering Saqib Shafiqui since the police call on Monday evening: how can you not see a teenager pushing grocery carts?
His son wore a reflective jacket that made him visible despite the darkness, according to what Mr. Shafiqui was able to confirm with IGA staff.
“It’s an accident. He didn’t see it. But we still want answers. It could have been avoided, ”drops Saqib Shafiqui.
No young person should die on the job, he pleads.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Zohaib Aamir Shafiqui was hit by a snow removal truck as he was pushing carts through the grocery store parking lot.
Inside the IGA, a few employees burst into tears in the frozen food aisle. They have just started their shift when they hear the terrible news. “We are all really upset. It cannot be that a young person of the same goes back to work never to return, ”confides an employee, mother of a boy of the same age. She preferred not to identify herself since the staff is not authorized to speak about the event.
An accident, according to the authorities
The police are continuing their investigation to determine the exact circumstances of the tragedy. The thesis of the accident is privileged.
“We are not talking about the criminal elements involved,” said Constable Landry.
This type of accident is “often a blind spot problem”, underlines Jean-Pierre Garand, President of the National Association of Artisan Truckers Inc. He cannot comment on the event that occurred on Monday evening, of which he does not know the exact circumstances, he underlines however. “The only way to prevent accidents is visual contact between the pedestrian and the driver. »
Given the time and place where the collision took place, it is possible that the driver thought he was alone. “Parking at night is less busy than a busy downtown street. »
The CNESST is also investigating this case since the young man lost his life while working at the supermarket located in the shopping center.
“He was performing a task related to his work, so the two parties involved were working and that is why the CNESST is also in the file,” explained agent Landry, from the SPL.
Accidents at work among young people
Work-related deaths are relatively rare in Quebec. The CNESST identifies an average of one per year among people under 20, out of around sixty deaths occurring in the workplace each year.
2875 : Number of young people aged 19 or under who suffered a work injury in 2020
535 : Number of work accidents among people under 25 in grocery stores, i.e. more than a quarter of the 1,897 accidents that occurred in 2020 in these establishments.
Source: Injury portrait of young workers aged 24 or under 2020