Father of 4-year-old killed by GO train in Mississauga speaks out

The father of the young girl who was killed by a GO train in Mississauga last week is speaking out, describing the four-year-old as someone everybody loved to be with.

Speaking with multiple media outlets on Tuesday, Emmanuel Nwabuoku says the incident occurred when his daughter Mitchell went out for ice cream with her older siblings and cousins.

He says the group was walking through a park and ended up chasing a butterfly to the nearby train tracks in the area of Dundas Street and Cawthra Road. When they heard an oncoming train blaring its horn everybody took off, but Mitchell froze.

“Around 15 minutes, we got a phone call from the eldest, saying, ‘Mitchell can no longer breathe! Mitchell can no longer breathe!’” Nwabuoku told the Toronto Star.

One witness who works near the tracks told CityNews he heard the train’s loud horn moments before the child was hit.

“We ran out after that and managed to see that someone had been struck by the train,” they said. “When we heard the train lay down the horn excessively, we knew that something was wrong.”

Another witness said they heard the horn followed by a loud bang and then screams from the family members.

Nwabuoku says the family lives in Hamilton and was in Mississauga staying at his brothers apartment. He says the family had no idea there were train tracks so close to the park where the children were playing.

He says the family has been overwhelmed with grief over the loss of their youngest child. The funeral for Mitchell was held on Tuesday.

Death of young girl reignited calls for fencing along train tracks

Residents who live nearby told CityNews shortly after the incident that the tracks were regularly crossed by pedestrians who use it as a well-known shortcut due to easy accessibility.

Canadian Pacific (CP) railway crews arrived the day after the girl was struck to install new fencing and block off an opening where the family crossed the tracks.

A crew has just arrived to install more fencing, closing a gap that allowed residents to cross the tracks fence @CityNewsTO @breakfasttv pic.twitter.com/DmLl3imntk

— Tammie Sutherland (@citytammie) July 27, 2022

The train tracks in the area were easily accessible to pedestrians via a dirt pathway and a gap in the fence. Warning signs are posted in the area advising people not to trespass.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said they were investigating the incident and would “gather information and assess the occurrence.”