EvanL
04-01-2004, 12:20 AM
By STEPHEN THORNE / The Canadian Press
KABUL - An Afghan cyclist was killed Tuesday in a collision with a Canadian jeep, the 200th road accident involving Canadian Forces since they joined the NATO-led peacemaking mission here last August.
The 30-year-old father died from internal injuries on the way to the base hospital at the main Canadian camp after he was struck by one of the military's new G-Wagons, an armoured, roofed, four-wheel drive vehicle.
The members of B Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, gave the man first aid before a military ambulance arrived at the scene, a crowded, predominantly Hazara market area about five kilometres from Camp Julien.
"We couldn't do that much to save him," said the company commander, Maj. Claude Langlois. "We called in the QRF (Quick Reaction Force)."
Maj. Luc Gaudet, a spokesman for the Canadian army in Kabul, said officers have been diligently reminding troops to watch their speed on the often-confusing streets of Afghanistan's bustling capital city.
Limits of 65 km/h on open roads and 45 km/h on city streets have been set, and brigade MPs have at times set up speed traps to catch violators.
But Langlois said he didn't believe speed was a factor in Tuesday's accident. The market, he said, is simply too crowded.
"All the guys know the speed limits," he said. "I can assure you, my guys were not going fast because that part of the town, there are so many people and it's so crowded, we have to go slow in this area."
"The problem we have downtown, many civilians have bicycles and they do not check like we do in North America. If they decide to go straight between the vehicles, they will, and they don't signal, they just do it."
"That's what happened today."
The patrol was cancelled and the soldiers returned to base to file a report. Military police from the Kabul Multi-National Brigade were investigating and counsellors were made available to the troops involved.
It was the second fatal accident involving Canadian members of the International Security Assistance Force.
A man died after being injured in an early morning accident Nov. 29, when a taxi trying to avoid a pothole veered in front of a Canadian LAV-3 armoured vehicle.
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KABUL - An Afghan cyclist was killed Tuesday in a collision with a Canadian jeep, the 200th road accident involving Canadian Forces since they joined the NATO-led peacemaking mission here last August.
The 30-year-old father died from internal injuries on the way to the base hospital at the main Canadian camp after he was struck by one of the military's new G-Wagons, an armoured, roofed, four-wheel drive vehicle.
The members of B Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal 22nd Regiment, gave the man first aid before a military ambulance arrived at the scene, a crowded, predominantly Hazara market area about five kilometres from Camp Julien.
"We couldn't do that much to save him," said the company commander, Maj. Claude Langlois. "We called in the QRF (Quick Reaction Force)."
Maj. Luc Gaudet, a spokesman for the Canadian army in Kabul, said officers have been diligently reminding troops to watch their speed on the often-confusing streets of Afghanistan's bustling capital city.
Limits of 65 km/h on open roads and 45 km/h on city streets have been set, and brigade MPs have at times set up speed traps to catch violators.
But Langlois said he didn't believe speed was a factor in Tuesday's accident. The market, he said, is simply too crowded.
"All the guys know the speed limits," he said. "I can assure you, my guys were not going fast because that part of the town, there are so many people and it's so crowded, we have to go slow in this area."
"The problem we have downtown, many civilians have bicycles and they do not check like we do in North America. If they decide to go straight between the vehicles, they will, and they don't signal, they just do it."
"That's what happened today."
The patrol was cancelled and the soldiers returned to base to file a report. Military police from the Kabul Multi-National Brigade were investigating and counsellors were made available to the troops involved.
It was the second fatal accident involving Canadian members of the International Security Assistance Force.
A man died after being injured in an early morning accident Nov. 29, when a taxi trying to avoid a pothole veered in front of a Canadian LAV-3 armoured vehicle.
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