Skip to main content

Maryam Rashidi, the Centex gas station attendant who was hit by a stolen truck while trying to stop a theft on Sunday, has died.

"She's gone, I lost my wife," her husband, Ahmad Rashidi, told CBC News as he took his son to the hospital. "I lost everything."


Calgary police say the 35-year-old woman, also known as Ashtiana, had followed a pickup truck that had not paid for gas.

She stood in front of the vehicle to get it to stop, but the truck hit and ran over her.

"We are devastated at Maryam's passing," said Centex Petroleum president Alnoor Bhura. "Our thoughts and heartfelt sympathy go out to her family and friends. We pray they are able to get through this time of sadness and pain. We are all struggling with this at the moment."

He says gas thefts occur every day in Alberta and the company's policy is for employees to call police instead of putting themselves at risk.

Earlier this week Bhura called for "pay before pump" legislation.

Barrie Harrison with Occupational Health and Safety, which is investigating the incident, says new legislation is not a priority right now.

"Any gas station or gas company is free to implement a system that requires paying for fuel prior to the pump being operational," he said. "They don't require a law to tell them to do that."

Staff at the Centex station on 16th Avenue in northwest Calgary said it was only Maryam's third day on the job. A manager there said the staff are shocked and sad.

Police believe one of the suspects, who was a passenger in the stolen pickup, may be a minor. The truck was found abandoned last night in the Varsity neighbourhood in the city's northwest.

Police confirmed on Tuesday night they have taken two males into custody in connection with the incident.

They will now interview the persons of interest to see if they were involved before moving forward with the investigation.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

"My parents, brother, and I left Iran in 1980, shortly after the revolution. After a brief stay in Italy, we packed all our belongings once again and headed west to the exotic and the unknown: Vancouver. We had recently been accepted as landed immigrants, meaning Canada graciously opened its doors and we gratefully accepted; we arrived at Vancouver International Airport on my 10th birthday, three suitcases and one sewing machine in tow. After respectful but intense questioning at immigration, we were dropped off at a hotel on Robson Street, which was then still a couple years shy of becoming the fashionable tourist hub it is today. We were jetlagged, culture shocked, and hungry, so that first night, my father and brother courageously ventured out into the wild in search of provisions. I fell asleep before they returned. The next morning, I woke up at 5 a.m. and ravenously feasted on a cold Quarter Pounder with cheese and limp French fries that had been left by my beds...
Stacey was a nurse so Kurt knew she would be able to give him a pretty good idea of how critical it was. On the other hand her knowledge of medical jargon could make her words seem foreign to Kurt. “He’s sustained two injuries. The first one was right on impact, his brain was shaken around pretty badly. It might have even rotated and perhaps nerve fibers were stretched and veins and arteries might have torn too. The second one is an open wound where the skull broke. The brain is exposed in that area. He was probably hit by some kind of sharp object during the collision.” Stacey unsuccessfully tried to disguise a horrifying yelp that she let out. “It's possible the area around the wound is undamaged. He might be facing long-term disabilities. He’s lost a lot of blood and his blood pressure has really dropped from the trauma. He’s really weakened by the blood loss. Plus there’s the loss of oxygen to the brain. The damage may be catastrophic. And then there’s infection…” “When w...
In 1980 a former classmate wrote me a letter that stated that he was fine and the class was doing find.